The Knicks' defensive strategy was to switch on every screen.
When Zhang Jiacheng drove to the free-throw line, King Arthur was guarding him.
So Zhang Jiacheng whipped the ball back, and Wang Yi caught it. Aleksandar was defending him.
Wang Yi gave Aleksandar a feint to the left, then quickly took a step to the right and drove past him.
Ball and feet moved as one; he was perfectly in sync with the ball.
The move was so fast that Aleksandar couldn't react at all. Wang Yi breezed past him and reached the mid-range.
With the paint crowded, he took a floater from mid-range.
Ever since returning from his last injury, Wang Yi's floater had been one of his signature moves. His shooting percentage on floaters had reached an astonishing 70%.
This one went in with ease, too.
After making the shot, Wang Yi turned toward Spike Lee at the sideline and said:
"This is for you!"
Spike Lee fired back just as forcefully: "You make one mid-range shot and start feeling yourself? Trash!"
Over the next five minutes, Wang Yi made five of his seven shots.
That included two three-pointers.
And every time he scored, he turned toward Spike Lee at the sideline and said, "This is for you!"
On his second three-pointer, in particular, he stood on the Raptors' cursive "R" logo, faced King Arthur, and went straight at him with a contested shot.
Thump—swish!
The basketball slammed into the hoop like a meteor.
After sinking that emphatic three, Wang Yi turned toward Spike Lee once more:
"This is for you!"
Spike Lee was the Knicks' most devoted fan, and the guy Wang Yi disliked most on the court.
Whenever Wang Yi passed by him, Spike Lee always hurled a torrent of trash talk at him.
And no