Bruce Pete took a full three minutes to recover. Only then did he slowly get to his feet with his teammates' help. He rubbed his chest, then clutched his stomach and rubbed that too.
He silently seethed.
Was Wang Yi here to kill people?
On the sideline, Carlisle wondered to himself, Is Bruce overacting a little? There's no need for that.
The two sides traded baskets after that.
But Haliburton was still completely locked down by Wang Yi. He had no chance to assist or score.
Death Knell kept coming over to provoke Wang Yi, but Wang Yi still didn't seem to pay him much attention.
That continued until the final two minutes of the first quarter.
Death Knell grabbed a rebound in the backcourt and tossed it to Haliburton, who launched a fast break.
But the fast break didn't result in a basket. Instead, Wang Yi grabbed the rebound.
Death Knell had fallen while fighting for the previous rebound and had only just gotten back to his feet.
When he saw Wang Yi charging up the court with the ball, he gritted his teeth.
He stepped across Wang Yi's path just inside the free-throw line.
This time, though, he was prepared.
He crossed his arms over his stomach to protect it.
At the same time, he hunched his shoulders forward as much as he could.
That way, Wang Yi wouldn't hit him in the chest or stomach.
Once he'd done that, he felt he was completely safe.
But when he looked at Wang Yi, he saw that Wang Yi had already reached the three-point line.
Wang Yi was looking right at him.
From the speed at which Wang Yi was charging toward him, the expression on his face, and the murderous look in his eyes, Death Knell suddenly felt