With Haliburton tightly guarded by Wang Yi, he rarely got a chance to handle the ball. Even when he did, he didn't dare shoot and could only hurry to pass it away.
Wang Yi still wasn't scoring, but whenever he made an occasional cut, it quickly compressed the opposing defense. Then he would pass the ball out, creating plenty of chances for shots from the perimeter and mid-to-long range.
Most importantly, without Death Knell hounding him, Wang Yi played with much greater ease.
As a result, by halftime, the Raptors had extended their lead to 12 points.
By the end of the third quarter, the lead had grown to 18.
Wang Yi didn't take the court at the start of the fourth quarter. The Raptors' substitutes came on one after another and gave everything they had on defense.
Though they struggled to score themselves, managing just 7 points in 4 minutes, they held the Pacers' substitutes to only 2 points in that same span.
As a result, the lead had reached 23 points.
If this had been the Regular Season, with the team down a key player and morale so low, Coach Carlisle would probably have given up right away.
But this was the Playoffs, and every game mattered. So he hurriedly put all his starters back in.
When Wang Yi saw Haliburton return to the court, he went back in as well.
As soon as he was back on the floor, he resumed guarding Haliburton closely, giving him no chance to shoot.
Even getting an assist, something Haliburton had managed so often in the past, was now incredibly difficult.
By contrast, on the Raptors' side, Wang Yi still hadn't taken a single shot. But with him drawing two defenders on the right sideline, his teammates found it easy to