Thud—
The basketball slammed hard against the rim.
Then it bounced back.
At that moment, Coach Ham clenched his fist, his brow furrowing tightly.
King Arthur's heart gave a sudden lurch, too.
The more than 18,000 fans in attendance erupted into deafening cheers, mixed with loud boos and whistles.
Some fans even shouted taunts.
"Come on, King Arthur, you've gotta make it! Hahahaha!"
"You can't possibly lose to the Kings without their King, can you? That'd be pathetic!"
At the same time, the arena DJ played some strange music.
It sounded mocking, too.
Amid all this, King Arthur took his second free throw.
He kept telling himself not to let Wang Yi or the hostile crowd get to him, but he was affected anyway.
After putting too much power into his first shot, he took some off this time. But he went too soft, and the ball struck the front of the rim and bounced up. Players from both teams rushed to grab the rebound.
That was when the Kings' three big men showed their advantage. They easily boxed out their opponents and secured the rebound.
Bond grabbed the ball and held it high, waiting for the Lakers to foul him.
With less than eight seconds left in the game, the Lakers had no choice but to foul immediately.
After the foul, Bond stepped to the free-throw line.
Watching from the sidelines, Popovich finally understood. He smiled and said,
"Sure enough, Wang Yi didn't call that timeout for nothing. He must've said something to King Arthur just now. The pressure got to Arthur, and that's why he missed both free throws."
Zen Master Phil Jackson nodded.
"That was genuinely brilliant, but it was still a gamble. What if Arthur had made both free throws? Or even just one? The Kings