Wang Yi's first-half performance had not only drawn ridicule from the two biggest Yi-haters. Even back in China, fans were baffled by how he was playing today.
"Brother Yi looks totally lost out there today."
"Honestly, it's a good thing Westbrook scored 22 in the first half. If Brother Yi keeps playing like this, I reckon the Kings wouldn't be up by 9 right now—they'd be down by 9."
In the Pepsi TV livestream hosted by Xu Jingyu,
he watched the game and shook his head over and over.
"Good grief, Brother Yi's playing like he's sleepwalking today. What on earth is this? I'm not afraid of Brother Yi's fans coming after me: bad play is bad play. And putting everything else aside, just look at these gamble-style steals. Look at him—he lunges out and completely abandons the player he's supposed to be guarding. Then the Spurs pass to Hugo, who drives inside and gets an easy layup."
"Now look at this play. You're guarding someone on the perimeter, but you go all the way inside to try to block a shot. Then they pass it out to Hugo on the wing, and he casually drains an open three."
"Brother Yi, wake up! This is the Playoffs, not the preseason. Westbrook is counting on you to win a championship. Old Westbrook is giving it everything he's got with those old arms and legs. Don't let him blow his shot at a title!"
"Westbrook scored 22 in the first half. At 42, putting up 22 points must be a record, right? Brother Yi, don't waste this amazing performance from Westbrook."
Meanwhile, at the AT&T Center,
in the Spurs' locker room,
Popovich didn't rush to judge Wang Yi and call his play complete nonsense.
He had been silent ever since he came