Everyone thought the Raptors were done for in this game. Then Zhang Jiacheng and Baturu stepped up from the bench.
In the final three minutes of the third quarter and the first three minutes of the fourth, the two of them scored repeatedly.
In just six minutes, Zhang Jiacheng put up 10 points, while Baturu added 7.
The Lakers hadn't expected this at all, and they started to panic. Their rotation defense couldn't keep up, and they couldn't score on offense.
So when Wang Yi took the court in the fourth quarter, the deficit had been cut to just 7 points.
Once he got on the floor, Wang Yi's shooting touch finally started to come back.
Two three-pointers cut the deficit to just one.
After that, the two teams traded baskets.
Wang Yi had found his three-point touch, but the Lakers' three stars started heating up too, knocking down threes one after another. They scored from mid-range and around the rim as well.
The Raptors mainly relied on threes from Wang Yi and Zhang Yu to keep pace with the Lakers.
The game reached its final three minutes.
The Lakers were now up by three.
The Raptors relied on Wang Yi to try to hit a three, but he missed.
As both teams fought for the rebound, Big Lock Rock grabbed it.
He'd planned to pass it straight out to the three-point line, but when he saw there was no one there to receive it, he dribbled to the corner himself.
He figured that once he drew a defender by dribbling there, one of his teammates should be able to get open.
But when he dribbled out of the corner and looked up, he saw that the Lakers had completely left him open from three. They weren't guarding him at