When the lead reached 90 points, Wang Jianhua finally pulled the Five-Defense lineup and sent Shan He and Wang Le out with three other substitutes.
Those two needed more experience in major international tournaments.
At the sidelines, Japanese commentator Tanaka Kenji saw this and shook his head with a bitter smile.
"China Team has only just brought in its substitutes, but the lead is already 90 points. I really wish they'd put them in earlier. Maybe then the gap wouldn't have gotten so huge."
"But it's good they've made the change now. There are still seven minutes left. We can't win, but our substitutes should be able to cut into the lead a little, right, Yamaguchi?"
Yamaguchi Tomoko had stopped fiddling with her tablet altogether.
She sighed softly. "Let's hope so."
Japan Team had the ball.
The three players China Team had just put back on the court hadn't played at all before.
They'd finally gotten a chance to play, and naturally, they weren't going to waste it.
They might not have been particularly strong on offense, but on defense, every one of them was giving it everything they had.
As a result, Japan Team's first possession ended in a 24-second violation.
On the other end, Shan He faced Japan Team's generally weak substitutes. He spun past one defender, crossed over past another, then used an Eurostep to get by a third.
He'd beaten three defenders in a row and charged straight into the paint.
He finished by dunking right over Japan Team's 2.13-meter substitute center, setting the whole arena off once again.
When Japan Team attacked again, every China Team player continued to defend with all their might.
After stopping them this time, China Team immediately launched a fast break, all of them racing down the court.
In a