Thanks to his height, Wang Yi had pulled up over Schroder five times.
He'd made four!
An 80 percent three-point percentage was downright outrageous.
His teammates' eyes had gone wide.
Even Coach Vogel was struggling to contain his excitement.
This really was the second Curry.
As long as Wang Yi could keep up this level of play, the Lakers' upcoming games would be much easier.
Another possession.
Schroder was still making one last desperate stand.
He knew he couldn't guard Wang Yi one-on-one. The guy's three-pointer was just ridiculous.
So this time, he changed his defensive strategy.
He wouldn't let Wang Yi get the ball.
He kept hounding Wang Yi, sticking to him and bumping him, doing everything he could to stop him from getting an easy catch.
Wang Yi was at a loss for words.
You said you wanted to go one-on-one.
Now you won't even let me touch the ball. What kind of one-on-one is that?
Have you no shame?
But Wang Yi couldn't be bothered to argue with Schroder.
He sprinted three steps forward and reached the area near the center circle.
Then he raised a hand and called for the ball from Caruso.
Caruso passed it to Wang Yi.
By then, Schroder had caught up, too.
He planted his feet wide and firmly blocked Wang Yi's path to the basket.
His expression was grave, his gaze fixed.
He wouldn't give Wang Yi any chance to drive.
He refused to believe Wang Yi could pull up for a three from near the center circle.
In this situation, Wang Yi didn't have the strength to shoot a three with proper form.
He could only "push-shoot" it.
He'd have to use his arm strength to push the ball forward.
So as long as Schroder held his ground in front of Wang Yi and left him no room to push the ball out, Wang Yi wouldn't be able to shoot.
And that was exactly what happened.
Wang Yi didn't have James's freakish core strength.
He couldn't use proper shooting form from the center line.
Still, that didn't stump Wang Yi.
He dribbled and abruptly took a step backward, putting even more distance between them.
He was now fully inside the center circle.
Before Schroder could close in, Wang Yi quickly let the ball fly.
He pushed it forward.
Schroder's heart sank.
He turned around in a hurry.
The ball sailed through a high arc.
Swish!
Three-pointer!
His teammates erupted in cheers.
"Oh—my God—"
"Good Lord, are you Stephen in a number-one jersey?"
"LOGO three-pointer!!!"
Several teammates came over to slap hands with Wang Yi.
James laughed. "Wang, come clean. Did you steal Stephen's shooting skill pack?"
Schroder was bent over with both hands on his knees, panting heavily.
He wasn't tired.
He could still run. He could still jump.
He'd just been crushed.
He'd defended Wang Yi all the way out to the center circle, and the guy had still nailed a LOGO three right over his head.
What else could he do?
Nothing he tried could stop this guy's insane three-point shooting.
What else was there left to do?
James walked over and patted Schroder on the shoulder.
It was a gesture of consolation.
As the team leader, he couldn't take just one player's side.
He had to spread the love around—at least on the surface.
Schroder didn't respond.
He wearily stood up and walked toward the sideline.
Watching him, the coach began thinking to himself.
Schroder had failed to win. There was nothing more to say about that.
Maybe it was time to give Wang Yi more playing time in the games ahead.
And they should draw up a few plays for him, too.
Leaving such a deadly three-point shooter without plays designed for him would be a waste of his talent.
In the end, James's team won the scrimmage handily, thanks to Wang Yi's unstoppable three-point shooting.
That afternoon, Wang Yi went to James's house again for treatment with Dr. Karen.
This time was different from the last.
Dr. Karen brought a lot of professional equipment.
She also put together a detailed rehabilitation plan for Wang Yi.
Following it would help him avoid overusing his right hand while speeding up the recovery of his right wrist.
Wang Yi was grateful.
"Thank you, Dr. Karen."
A high-end private doctor like her would normally charge a fortune to create a personalized training plan and provide treatment for an athlete.
With Wang Yi's current short-term contract, he couldn't afford it.
But Dr. Karen said she would treat him completely free of charge.
She said she was a Lakers fan and wanted to do her part for the team.
What Wang Yi didn't know was that she simply couldn't stand to see such a talented player—and a Laker, no less—hampered by injuries.
The next day was another game day.
The system still gave him no new missions.
In the morning, he joined the team for some low-intensity training.
He rested in the afternoon.
At nine that evening, the game was about to begin.
Their opponents that night were the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns had eliminated the Lakers the previous year.
That had made the Lakers the first defending champions ever to be knocked out in the First Round.
It was a humiliating record.
The whole Lakers team was itching for revenge.
Especially their star player, James.
After they were eliminated last year, he'd been mocked relentlessly.
From NBA legends to countless online commenters, everyone had taken a shot at him.
Even though this was only a Regular Season game, James didn't want to lose.
Before the game had even started, fans were already discussing it in the Tencent NBA Live Broadcast Room in China.
"Will Wang Yi catch fire from three again tonight?"
"Very possible."
"I hope he does. It's been ages since China had a player who could really compete."
Of course, there were plenty of haters, too.
"Catch fire, my ass. Three straight games going off? You think he's Curry?"
"I heard Thick Eyebrows is out tonight, so the Suns' defense will have a much easier time. They'll be able to focus more on the other players. If Wang Yi still goes off under those conditions, I'll be damned."
"Exactly. He went off in the first two games because, like Jeremy Lin back in the day, other teams didn't know much about him yet. Now he's gone off twice in a row, and the Suns have definitely studied him. If they still let him explode, the Suns' front office might as well disband."
"If he goes off, I'll livestream myself eating shit."
Someone immediately fired back, "Get lost. You're always trying to scam people into feeding you."
Ke Fan was hosting the Tencent NBA Live Broadcast Room that night.
The guest commentator was Yang Yi, a well-known Chinese basketball commentator and media personality.
Meina was the female host, as usual.
Ke Fan opened with a question.
"Teacher Yang, the game hasn't started yet. Can you predict how it'll go?"
Yang Yi joked, "Are you just waiting for me to get proven wrong? But predictions can't be right every time. If I get it right, that's because I'm good. If I get it wrong, what are you going to do about it?"
That made Ke Fan laugh.
Yang Yi continued.
"Thick Eyebrows is out tonight, and Paul is playing through an injury. History has a way of repeating itself."
"As for how the game will go, the Suns have Paul and Booker, while the Lakers have only James to rely on. That won't be enough. The other players will have to step up if the Lakers want a chance. Otherwise, it'll be like Games 5 and 6 last year—the game will be over by the first quarter."
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