The Raptors launched another fast break. Even though the ball had clearly gone out of bounds and they were taking it out, their superior conditioning let them sprint ahead and get to the front of the pack.
Wang Yi raced back on defense, gritting his teeth as he made it all the way beneath the basket this time.
Seeing Wang Yi standing under the rim, the opposing players didn't dare drive to the basket. They could only pass the ball around the perimeter, and eventually one of them sank a three.
The lead had shrunk to eight points.
The game continued, but because of his foot injury, Wang Yi could no longer make the sharp drives he'd managed earlier.
His teammates' energy had dwindled too badly. One after another, they failed to make their shots, and the lead gradually shrank.
Six points;
Five points;
Three points.
With 3:05 left in the game, the opponent finished a fast-break layup.
107–108. The Jazz had taken a one-point lead.
At that moment, the Raptors had all the momentum. More than 20,000 people in the Delta Center had erupted.
The crazy Mormon fans were even more jubilant.
More than a thousand of them had formed a huge section.
They swayed in unison, making exaggerated movements.
The other spectators weren't as wild, but they were all incredibly excited.
After all, the Raptors had come back from a 40-point deficit and taken the lead in less than a quarter.
Over those eight minutes, the Raptors had managed only seven points as their energy ran out.
Meanwhile, the Jazz kept pushing the pace and speeding up the game.
Once they got the tempo going, the exhausted Raptors couldn't keep up at all, so their offensive efficiency became absurdly high.
They'd scored 48 points in those eight minutes