Wang Yi and James let the role players take over for a few possessions, but it was obvious the supporting cast didn't have their touch tonight.
They couldn't score on any of those possessions, while Durant was playing exceptionally well for the Bucks. They cut the deficit to just four points.
And because the Kings had tightened their defense on Durant, they naturally had to ease up on everyone else. So when Durant passed the ball to Antetokounmpo and Middleton, both of them managed to score efficiently several times.
Irving was the one who suffered.
Wang Yi stuck to him like glue, and he had only scored two points since the opening tip.
Still, the Kings' head coach called a timeout.
If only one player on the Bucks was getting it done, that would be one thing. But now all three of them had heated up, so they needed a timeout to make some adjustments.
Kings head coach De'Anthony addressed the team. "They know Wang Yi's help defense has been excellent tonight, so they deliberately had Kyrie Irving drag him to the left corner. That leaves everyone else free to attack one-on-one. I'm going to move Wang Yi down to the basket and have him guard Giannis."
"That way, no matter where they are beyond the three-point line, Wang Yi can rotate over to help. And with his speed, he can get back under the basket quickly to guard Giannis."
On any other team, if a coach told a 6-foot-4 guard to defend Antetokounmpo, everyone would think the coach had to be fucking crazy.
But the Kings were different.
Everyone knew Wang Yi could defend big men one-on-one.
So when they heard the coach's suggestion, nobody objected.
When they returned to the court, the Kings put Wang Yi in the