Their bench players had been in a slump for the past two seasons, consistently giving up points whenever they took the court.
Wang Yi had made up for it before. The team won more than it lost, so the problem never became too glaring. But after Wang Yi was suspended for 20 games this season, the starters led by Pang Bo could no longer fully dig the team out of the holes the bench kept putting them in.
With the team losing more than it won, the problem became impossible to ignore.
They could clearly feel that people had started looking at them with hostility during some of the earlier games. They had even occasionally heard people talking about them behind their backs, while the internet was flooded with criticism of the bench.
In that situation, they felt like the Toronto Raptors' public enemy number one, like rats everyone wanted to chase down.
Especially in this game, they had given up points as soon as they took the court. Now, in just over three minutes, they had cut a 15-point lead down to three.
In that situation, they felt that everyone was looking at them with hostility.
They hadn't expected Wang Yi to say something like that just then. A sense of gratitude welled up in them, and their fighting spirit was rekindled.
Amid their renewed determination, the fourth quarter began.
The Toronto Raptors opened with Pang Bo leading the bench players onto the court.
Zhang Jiacheng came off to rest.
The Detroit Pistons, meanwhile, didn't take any of their starters out to rest. Billups sent all five of them onto the court to keep attacking.
Billups thought the Toronto Raptors' bench was too weak. This was the perfect time to make up ground, so he had to send all