Although X had used Martin's screen to get away from Wang Yi, Wang Yi was still right behind him, staying tight on defense. After being chased down and blocked by Wang Yi several times earlier, he didn't dare shoot carelessly now.
But X was clever, too. Since Wang Yi had blocked him several times in a row, he came up with a plan. When he reached the free-throw line, he suddenly stopped short.
He was waiting for Wang Yi to run into him from behind.
He wanted to draw a chasing foul on Wang Yi.
But after all these years in the NBA, Wang Yi had seen every kind of situation.
When Wang Yi guarded Dongzi, Harden, and Trae Young, they had all tried to draw chasing fouls on him a few times.
Wang Yi had learned his lesson long ago. There was no way he'd let some green rookie draw one on him.
Just as he was about to run into X, Wang Yi sidestepped, slipped past X, and got in front of him.
So X was locked down again.
With no choice, X dribbled backward a couple of steps.
Wang Yi stayed right with him.
X tried to find a way to shoot, but Wang Yi's defensive pressure was overwhelming. Once Wang Yi had him covered and he'd stopped, getting a shot off was extremely difficult.
With the shot clock about to expire, X had no choice but to pass the ball to Rockets Lokent.
Zhang Jiacheng was guarding Rockets Lokent.
With almost no time left, he could only dribble, make a behind-the-back dribble to the side, step back, and shoot.
Lokent had never been much of a creator for himself. Under pressure, with a defender in front of him, his shot was naturally way off.
It nearly