Wang Yi's three-pointer went in, instantly stretching the lead back to 20 points after Brazil had cut it to 17.
There were only six minutes left in the game.
In theory, six minutes was still enough time to come back. But Brazil had only Juan who could really play, while China had Wang Yi, who had barely taken any shots all game.
So Brazil's hopes of winning had become vanishingly slim—not that they had been great to begin with.
Wang Yi's three-pointer also poured cold water over the Brazilians, who had been fired up by Juan's string of baskets.
With Juan scoring again and again, Pang Bo had seemed to be slightly outmatched in their duel. That was especially true after Pang Bo started to tire, which had left the Brazilians cheering and growing more and more excited. Now Wang Yi's three-pointer seemed to snap them out of it. They had clearly forgotten that Wang Yi was still there.
As Pang Bo's stamina continued to fade, when Zhao Rui passed him the ball again, he just couldn't hold his ground.
He had no choice but to pass it back out.
The moment Zhao Rui caught the ball, he took off and drove toward the paint.
After drawing the defense inside, he lobbed the ball high toward the rim. Pang Bo was unguarded, and he leaped up and slammed it through the hoop.
With his stamina as low as it was, he couldn't keep forcing his way to the basket one-on-one. But with a teammate helping him, he could still unleash tremendous firepower.
Over the next few possessions, none of Brazil's other players could get a basket. They had no choice but to rely on Juan.
After attacking relentlessly for six minutes, even Juan started to run out of steam.
After