Golden 1 Center, courtside in the Lakers' resting area.
Coach Ham looked at all the players, trying to lift their spirits—and reassure himself at the same time.
"The Kings are in serious trouble, and it's all because of their foul trouble."
"Look at their foul stats. All three of their big men have four fouls!"
"Three of their five starters have four fouls, and two have already reached five!"
"If they keep playing this way, someone will be fouled out soon. But if they stop, Arthur's relentless drives will make them pay! So this game is still ours, and the Finals will be ours too!"
As he spoke, his emotions rose, and his voice and expression were infectious.
The Lakers' players and coaches knew Ham was trying to fire them up with a pep talk, but it was a pretty good one.
Everyone felt fired up.
The Kings opened the fourth quarter with their three-big lineup.
As before, Arthur quickly drove into the paint.
Seeing that they couldn't stop Bond, the Kings immediately fouled him.
That was Bond's fifth foul.
Just a minute later, the Lakers launched a fast break, and Arthur was the only King back on defense.
Seeing Arthur charging toward him, Bond hesitated for a moment.
If he didn't foul, Arthur would surely throw down a posterizing dunk.
But if he did, he'd foul out.
As he hesitated, Coach Kevin yelled from the sideline:
"Foul! Foul! Take him down!"
Coach Kevin knew that another foul would be Bond's sixth.
But before leaving, Wang Yi had told them not to worry about fouling out.
If Arthur looked ready to shoot, they were to foul him without hesitation.
So when Bond saw Arthur about to jump, he reached out and grabbed Arthur's arm, preventing him from even bringing the