Don't underestimate that tiny bit of energy he saved.
As the saying went, little savings added up. If he conserved a little energy on every play, then by the fourth quarter he'd have enough left to play the entire period.
Otherwise, just like in the previous playoff series, he'd have to spend a quarter and a half or even two quarters of every game going through the motions on the court.
But looking at the Raptors' players today, one by one, their shots were ice-cold, while the players on the other side were hitting at a very high rate.
Danny in particular had made five of his six three-point attempts. In these circumstances, Wang Yi couldn't afford to coast for even a minute.
If he coasted at all, even for one minute, the gap would widen rapidly.
At last, the first quarter ended.
The Raptors trailed the Kings by a full ten points, 27–37.
Although Wang Yi had been extremely efficient on offense in the first quarter, he'd made only two-point shots, while the opposing team had already knocked down nine three-pointers.
And of the Raptors' 27 points, Wang Yi had scored 22. The first quarter had looked, in a word, like Wang Yi taking on the entire Kings team by himself.
During the break between quarters, the Kings' head coach looked at their ten-point lead, yet felt a trace of unease.
He knew the Kings had played very smoothly throughout the first quarter.
Their three-point percentage had been especially high, reaching 75%.
That was what had allowed them to take a ten-point lead.
With Wang Yi's scorching touch today, if their three-point percentage dropped to 50%, they might be ahead by only three points at most.
The most worrying part was that he'd have to rest his starters at