In the second game between the Raptors and the Pacers, Indiana changed its defensive strategy against Wang Yi. Instead of constantly double-teaming him, they had only Death Knell harass him beyond the three-point line. They waited until he drove inside the arc before sending a second defender.
The advantage was that they could double-team Wang Yi while still keeping an eye on Pang Bo.
The downside was that their defense beyond the arc was weak.
It all came down to how the Raptors' shots were falling that day.
When Wang Yi saw Death Knell guarding him one-on-one at the start of the game, he drove straight past him.
Once he reached the three-point line, the double-team came, so he passed the ball back out to the perimeter.
But Zhang Jiacheng and Hachimura weren't shooting well from three that day.
That only made the Pacers more confident in their strategy of giving up threes to stop drives.
Meanwhile, the Pacers were shooting quite well from beyond the arc.
They had played less than half a quarter, but Death Knell and Haliburton had already taken six three-point shots between them and made four.
They quickly stretched their lead to seven points.
That was when Wang Yi went to work.
Beyond the arc, he used a sideways step-back to shake Death Knell, then sank the three.
Next, with Death Knell right in front of him, he simply shot over him from three.
Then, just past half court, with his feet on the court logo, he pulled up and drained a three over Death Knell.
Three straight threes quickly cut the deficit to two.
The Pacers players started to doubt themselves. Was their defensive strategy really the right call?
Seeing this, Pacers head coach Carlisle immediately called a timeout.
During the break, he told