In the final minutes of the first quarter and the first three minutes of the second, the Hawks' other starters hadn't rested at all. Only their center, Capela, had gotten a few minutes on the bench.
As a result, they'd cut the lead to five.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Wang Yi took the floor.
As soon as he came on, Jalen Green and Trae Young came over to guard him.
Once Wang Yi reached the frontcourt, the two of them kept a close watch on him.
But Wang Yi just strolled over to the right corner as if he were an old man out for a leisurely walk.
The two followed him there.
Wang Yi had no chance to get the ball, but that left most of the half court open for everyone else. The other four Kings had a four-on-three advantage.
With Little Danny's playmaking ability, he had no trouble getting the ball to the open man in a four-on-three half-court situation.
The Hawks had clearly prepared for this. When they were outnumbered three to four, they packed the paint and let the Kings shoot threes.
The Kings' three-point shooting had been average that day.
Danny had tried three shots and missed them all. Little Danny had tried one and missed, too.
Mouth Brother Wiggins had taken two and made one.
That was honestly a pretty poor showing from the Kings on offense.
But did you think the Hawks could close the gap just because of that?
Then you were too naive.
The Kings' offense might have been poor, but Wang Yi's formidable defense was making the Hawks' offense just as bad.
First, he completely shut down Jalen Green in man-to-man defense.
That meant one of the Hawks' so-called backcourt duo was already out of the picture.