Wang Yi seemed able to predict where the Warriors would try to inbound the ball every time.
In the end, the Warriors' center was left with no choice. Afraid of making a mistake, he could only hold on to the ball.
Warriors head coach Kerr couldn't call another timeout either. They had already used all their timeouts in the third quarter.
Calling another would mean a technical foul, so all they could do was watch as the five-second inbound violation ran out.
Steve Kerr was furious with himself. If he'd known this would happen, he should've just let the Warriors take the eight-second violation earlier.
An eight-second violation would've cost them only one possession.
But now, the five-second violation had cost them a possession and wasted a timeout.
As the Chinese saying went, they'd lost both the wife and the soldiers.
The Raptors had the ball next.
As they began their attack, Wang Yi got the ball off a screen.
He drove into the paint, drawing nearly the entire defense inside, then passed straight to Zhang Yu.
This time, Zhang Yu seized the opportunity and sank a precise three-pointer.
The score was tied.
The arena erupted.
But the moment the fans were waiting for—Wang Yi's 35,000th point—still hadn't come.
The Warriors attacked next, and the Raptors immediately pressed them full-court again.
This time, the Warriors were ready and managed to dribble across half court. But getting the ball across half court and completing an attack were two different things.
Once they reached the frontcourt, all five tried to run their offense methodically, but every Raptors player stuck close to his man. The defense was suffocating.
The Warriors tried to use screens to create open shots, but the Raptors switched on every screen.
They switched on everything.
Kuminga ended up matched