At the sound of the referee's whistle, both teams gathered at center court for the jump ball.
The Kings' lineup today was still the three-big setup alongside Wang Yi and Danny.
The Hornets had kept the rest of their starting lineup unchanged, replacing only their starting Power Forward, Howard, with Al-Rasso.
Al-Rasso was a traditional Power Forward.
He was big, strong, and physical, but a little slow on his feet.
Traditional Power Forwards like him didn't fit the trends of today's small-ball era.
That was why he'd rarely seen playing time during the Regular Season or in the first three rounds of the Playoffs.
But now that the Hornets couldn't get their double-cross actions going, their two-man frontcourt was at a major disadvantage against the Kings' three bigs. So head coach Willie Green had put Al-Rasso in to give them more physicality.
They had one big man and one strong man to contend with the Kings' three giants. Even if they couldn't gain much of an advantage, they should at least be able to hold their own.
After all, Wemby was the best center in the league right now. Surely he could handle one and a half, or even more than one and a half, of the opposing players by himself.
As usual, Wemby easily won the jump ball.
When it came to jump balls, there wasn't a single center in today's league who could outjump Wemby.
At that moment, Al-Rasso muscled Towns aside in the paint.
After Wemby got the ball near the free-throw line, he dribbled a step into the paint, then suddenly spun around at incredible speed.
Using Tures as a pivot, he spun into the key.
Then, with Bond and Towns closing in from opposite sides to block him, he finished with a Layup.
How could