Ray Allen hoped Popovich would bring out Wang Yi's true strength.
But he was disappointed.
Popovich hadn't managed to bring out Wang Yi's true strength.
The two sides then faced off once more.
Including the first game, Wang Yi hadn't shown his true strength in either of the two games.
He averaged a mere 35 points, 11.7 assists, 11.3 rebounds, 6.5 steals, and 6.1 blocks.
That kind of performance would be historic for anyone else. For Wang Yi, it could only mean he hadn't even gone all out.
He had devoted most of his attention to coaching.
He was no longer satisfied with beating his opponents through sheer ability alone, because his raw talent was clearly on another level compared with the rest of the NBA.
Playing against them with that kind of ability would be like bullying them.
So he preferred to match wits with Popovich, both on and off the court.
He found the mental sparring endlessly enjoyable.
After losing to Wang Yi two games in a row, Popovich was naturally unhappy.
After the second game, he made a pointed remark:
"Right, this is his home turf. If you want to beat Wang Yi on his own turf, it's basically impossible."
What he meant was that Wang Yi had home-court advantage and had pulled all sorts of dirty tricks behind the scenes. But once they were back in San Antonio, they wouldn't let him get away with it.
Even without Popovich saying so, Wang Yi knew that Old Popo would definitely try something underhanded in San Antonio.
After all, San Antonio's arena was notorious for one problem after another.
Bats and cockroaches showing up inside, the arena's air conditioning breaking down—there was no end to it.
So Wang Yi had been prepared for this.
After the second game,