As he took the court, Wang Yi turned back to Tagore, Zhang Yu, and the others and said:
"This game won't be that simple. Everyone needs to be mentally prepared!"
Everyone nodded at his words, their expressions more solemn than ever.
Once they were on the court, the Raptors inbounded the ball.
After receiving the ball, Tagore didn't dare dribble much and passed it straight to Wang Yi. But the moment Wang Yi got the ball, two defenders trapped him.
Wang Yi immediately passed it back to Tagore. Tagore dribbled a couple of steps toward the paint, then passed it right back to Wang Yi.
This time, Wang Yi didn't even try to catch it. As the ball flew toward him, he simply swatted it with his hand, sending it over to Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu was temporarily open.
He caught the ball and immediately shot.
But the opposing point guard, Carmen, rushed over. As Zhang Yu jumped, Carmen touched his waist with his right hand and gave him a slight push.
That clearly affected Zhang Yu's shot, and the three-pointer missed.
This season, as long as a defender's push didn't cause a noticeable displacement while a player was shooting, the referees wouldn't call it.
So the referee let it go.
On the other end, the Timberwolves' point guard seized the opportunity and led a fast break.
The lead had already shrunk to seven points.
On the next possession, Wang Yi tried to get open for a pass but was trapped by two defenders.
Wang Yi made a backdoor cut, hoping to use his explosiveness to shake off his defender. But as he cut, the opposing shooting guard, Soldier Ryan, checked him with his shoulder. Wang Yi stumbled and nearly fell to the floor.
With no way to get the