So, on the next possession, he looped around the paint on offense, used his teammates' screens to shake Wang Yi, then took a shot from the right corner.
It was an excellent look. Vanderbilt had screened Wang Yi out of the way.
And Second Ball had delivered a perfect pass. When Big Ball caught it, he was right in his shooting rhythm.
What's more, over the past two years, Big Ball had shot best from the two corners of the court.
His three-point percentage from the left corner was 49%.
From the right corner, it was 45%.
Those two corners were his sweet spots.
Big Ball caught the ball and immediately rose to shoot without hesitation.
But after dropping into the hoop, the ball didn't fall through. It bounced around inside the rim twice, then popped back out.
Big Ball furrowed his brow and cursed again. "Fuck!!"
The shot had felt perfect, yet he'd missed again. What was going on?
But that wasn't what frustrated him most. The next play was even worse.
The Lakers launched a fast break.
Second Ball led the charge with the ball and drove straight to the basket for a layup, only for Wang Yi to chase him down and swat the ball against the backboard.
After they landed, players from both teams rushed in to fight for the rebound.
Hayes, the Lakers' center, grabbed it and immediately whipped a pass to Big Ball in the left corner.
When Big Ball caught the ball there, the fans in the arena were already on their feet. They thought he was bound to make it.
As far as they could remember, Big Ball rarely missed when he got the ball in the left corner.
And now there wasn't a defender within six meters of him.
On the