Locking Down Devin Booker

The arena DJ wasn't blind and naturally knew that ninety percent of the credit for that basket belonged to Wang Yi.

Wang Yi had blocked Booker, who was on fire for the Suns, and gotten the ball.

That led to Pope's dunk afterward.

So, when announcing Wang Yi's name, the DJ's voice was exceptionally loud and drawn out.

And the DJ's voice was extremely rousing.

The atmosphere in the arena heated up once more.

Amidst the cheers, the audience began to discuss.

"I told you, they should have put Wang on the court earlier."

"He's blocked two in a row, and he blocked the Suns' strongest scorer. That's so cool."

"Wang doesn't seem like a short-term contract player at all; I think he's a star player."

The Suns' head coach, Monty Williams, was also cautious.

After the Lakers went on a 7-0 run, he quickly called a timeout.

During the timeout, he carefully observed Booker.

Booker was drinking from a bottle of mineral water, but his eyes revealed a strong fighting spirit.

Being blocked twice in a row by that Easterner, he wasn't convinced!

Who was this unknown nobody who dared to challenge him?

Coach Williams knew that Booker was young and easily got hot-headed.

If he kept suppressing him, it would inevitably lead to problems.

So, he had to let him score his way back into the game.

However, he needed a method, not just brute force.

He immediately patted Booker's back and said:

"Devin, you need to score back and teach that Eastern kid a lesson!"

Booker abruptly tightened the cap on his bottle and said with determination, "I know!"

Coach Williams nodded:

"But you can't shoot threes anymore. That kid has strong blocking ability and seems very experienced at defending threes. So, you need to change your strategy. You need to drive at him, break him down, understand?"

For the young Devin, changing his strategy was almost like asking him to compromise.

If it had been two years ago, he would never have agreed.

But after last year's playoffs, he had grown a lot.

As long as they could have the last laugh, the twists and turns of the process no longer mattered.

He nodded and said, "Understood!"

Paul, standing nearby, heard this and felt a measure of relief.

For the Suns to achieve greater things, their main star, Booker, had to grow.

Currently, he was indeed growing rapidly.

Back on the court, the game resumed.

Paul dribbled past half-court and still passed to Booker.

The others spread out for isolation.

Facing Wang Yi's defense, Booker dribbled slowly, crossing the ball between his hands.

After dribbling four times, he suddenly changed his rhythm.

He raised his hands, seemingly preparing to gather the ball.

Wang Yi immediately stepped forward, intending to block.

But Booker was just doing a behind-the-back dribble.

The next moment, he suddenly lowered his center of gravity, intending to drive past on the left.

But just as he broke through, Wang Yi moved laterally with incredible speed.

He slammed into Wang Yi's chest.

Booker reacted quickly.

When his drive to the left failed, he dribbled behind his back with his left hand and instantly moved to the right, intending to break through on the right.

However, after just one step.

Bang!

A muffled sound, and he slammed into Wang Yi's chest once again.

Booker couldn't break through and could only retreat a few steps.

After creating separation, he attempted to accelerate past again.

But Wang Yi's lateral movement speed was too fast; he always positioned himself perfectly in Booker's path.

Booker tried repeatedly without success, ultimately having to retreat and pull back to the three-point line again.

Wang Yi was indeed faked out this time, but even so, he couldn't let Booker shoot easily.

He lunged forward with all his might, attempting to disrupt the shot without touching any part of the opponent's body.

Perhaps Booker was feeling anxious, or perhaps he was wary of Wang Yi's block.

So, on this shot, the ball hit the back rim.

Drummond grabbed the rebound.

The commentator on the scene exclaimed in surprise:

"Did you see that? Did you see Wang's defense just now?"

"Of course, we saw it! Tight as a drum, not a single opening!"

"His lateral movement speed is too fast; Devin Booker simply couldn't break through."

"This is absolutely the fastest lateral movement I've ever seen from a player! To exaggerate, he's top-tier in the league right now!"

However, although Wang Yi's defense was strong...

It was a shame the Lakers' offense failed this time.

On the next Suns possession, Booker still couldn't break through Wang Yi's defense.

He ended up forcing another three-point shot that missed.

During the Lakers' fast break, Wang Yi hit a three-pointer.

The deficit was cut to just 5 points.

Turning back, it was the Suns' offense.

Paul saw that Booker was starting to get anxious.

He knew they couldn't continue like this; Booker needed to calm down.

Moreover, the team hadn't scored in a while, and he had to step up and score.

This was the experience of Paul, the veteran.

When the team's offense was flowing smoothly, he was the conductor, feeding his teammates.

When the team's offense stalled, he would step up to carry the load.

This time, he didn't pass the ball to Booker but signaled to him.

He pressed his right hand down in the air, meaning "calm down."

Booker was still quite respectful of Paul.

Although he was unhappy internally about Wang Yi consistently shutting him down, he also knew he needed to calm down.

So, he didn't ask for the ball again.

Instead, he set a screen for Paul.

At this point, the Lakers had subbed out Drummond and brought in Harrell.

The team's mobility had greatly increased.

Therefore, the Lakers' current defensive strategy was to switch on every screen.

Wang Yi switched onto Paul to defend him.

From Wang Yi's previous defense on Booker, Paul had a preliminary understanding of Wang Yi's defensive style—he liked to jump.

Against this type of defender, Paul had a hundred ways to toy with him.

Facing Wang Yi's defense, he suddenly turned to Wang Yi's right.

Wang Yi also moved to the right to gain position.

But Paul only completed half of his turn, then quickly lowered his body and drove past Wang Yi's left.

Wang Yi quickly shuffled to the left.

At this point, Paul had already driven half a step inside.

By the time Wang Yi shuffled over, he already had the ball in both hands, feigning a jump.

He wanted to bait Wang Yi into jumping before shooting.

However, this time, Wang Yi, who liked to jump, didn't bite.

Paul was confident he could make Wang Yi jump, so he shot with confidence—the mid-range was as confident for him as a layup.

However, Wang Yi only jumped as Paul released the ball.

Seeing this, Paul was startled.

After jumping, he quickly leaned back.

But Wang Yi's fingertips still brushed the basketball.

After flying two meters in the air, the basketball drooped powerlessly, as if it had finished its business.

Paul frowned.

Why did this guy, who was so eager to jump on defense, not jump this time?

Little did he know, Wang Yi didn't actually love to jump.

Although Wang Yi hadn't played much in the past two years.

He had spent almost all his time watching game footage, aside from training and sleeping.

Analyzing the movements and habits of NBA players.

He was very familiar with the techniques, habits, and even temperaments of every starting and rotation player on all thirty NBA teams.

To exaggerate, these players' teammates probably didn't know them as well as Wang Yi did.

So he didn't actually love to jump.

He only loved to jump when defending players like Devin *Booker.

He knew Paul was short, so after a drive, if he couldn't create significant space, he would usually fake once before shooting.

That's why Wang Yi didn't jump on Paul's first fake.

Only when Paul faked a second time did he jump to contest the shot.

These things, simple as they sound, were the result of his years of hard work and dedication.