Wemby's brow furrowed slightly. That familiar bad feeling had surfaced again.
In past games, Wang Yi had blocked Wemby over and over throughout the game on several occasions.
So whenever the Hornets faced the Raptors, Wemby dreaded Wang Yi suddenly turning into a shot-blocking maniac.
Thankfully, in the first four games, although Wang Yi had blocked him a few times, it hadn't been too outrageous. At most, he'd blocked him twice per game.
But today, in just six minutes, Wang Yi had already blocked him twice.
This game was going to be rough.
Still, Wemby knew he couldn't live in Wang Yi's shadow forever.
So when his teammate inbounded the ball, Wemby saw Pang Bo being pushed aside by Magic Hand Jack. Wang Yi had rotated over to cover him, and Wemby immediately raised his hand for the ball.
LaMelo Ball saw that Wemby had gotten deep position on the block. If he got the ball, he could go straight up for a dunk—and Wang Yi, who was guarding him, was so much shorter. So LaMelo passed it right to Wemby.
Wemby used his size advantage to turn and lean his shoulder into Wang Yi, knocking him aside before rising straight up for the dunk.
But as soon as Wang Yi was knocked off balance, he lunged right back at Wemby. Wemby thought he'd gotten a clean separation, so he went up with conviction. Wang Yi defended with even more conviction.
Just as Wemby was about to slam the ball through the hoop, Wang Yi's arm came up beneath it. Wemby's powerful dunk sent Wang Yi's hand crashing into the rim, but the ball still didn't go in.
It ricocheted far away.
Ignoring the pain on the back of his right hand, Wang Yi raised one finger toward the crowd