With four minutes left in the game, the Kings had built a 20-point lead.
The Grizzlies were beyond saving.
The coach had taken Morant out earlier, hoping he could cool off.
He certainly had cooled off. After returning to the court, his touch had gone completely cold. Nothing he threw up would go in.
As for calming down, he truly couldn't manage it.
The more he missed, the angrier he got.
The angrier he got, the more he missed.
And the more he missed, the more he wanted to get that damn ball in!
An endless vicious cycle.
By then, the Kings had taken all their starters out and sent in the bench players. That gave old Rose and old Wei Shao a chance to get on the court, too.
In the end, the Kings beat the Grizzlies 123–110 in This Final Game.
They got off to a winning start in the series.
The Grizzlies had lost a home game on their own court, which meant they no longer had home-court advantage.
For the Kings, aside from Wang Yi being as dominant as ever, Mouth Brother had also played quite well.
Wang Yi had fed him plenty of passes, and Mouth Brother finished with 32 points that night.
That was far above his usual level.1
Many Kings fans were excited, but they couldn't help worrying in secret.
"As everyone knows, Mouth Brother is human 18-point essence. He scored 12 more points than usual tonight, so next game he might score 12 fewer. Either way, he has to keep his average at 18."
"So the Kings are in trouble next game."
The impression this matchup left on people was that it had been a contest of passing skills between Wang Yi and Morant.
In that contest, Wang Yi had clearly