This Final Game ended with the Raptors crushing the Lakers 157–130, winning by a 27-point margin.
And that was with the Raptors pulling their starters six minutes early.
If the Raptors hadn't pulled their starters, the Lakers' fate would have been even worse.
The Raptors' victory had left everyone stunned.
Bales, Wang Yi's biggest hater, had confidently predicted before the game that the Raptors would lose.
But what happened?
The Raptors didn't just win—they won by a landslide.
With Wang Yi on the court, the team outscored the Lakers by 43 points.
That had thoroughly humiliated Bales and all the other haters.
On the show cohosted by Bales and Stephen A. Smith, the two once again traded barbs.
Calling it a battle of words was generous; it was really a one-sided rout by Stephen A. Smith.
After all, one of them was Wang Yi's biggest hater, and the other was his biggest fan. Their clashes naturally drew plenty of attention, and this episode was a huge hit.
On the show, Stephen A. Smith asked, "Bales, let me ask you something. You said before that the Raptors had lost two Core Players and suffered a massive blow, so they were bound to lose to the Lakers. But what about now?"
"Now I want to hear your honest thoughts. What do you really think?"
Bales hesitated for a moment before answering, "It's true that nobody expected the Raptors to win the first game."
"There's no doubt that Wang Yi was the reason they won. He suddenly turned back the clock and erupted for 81 points."
"That was far beyond what we expected."
"A 37-year-old veteran scoring 81 points in a single game under the defensive pressure of the Finals—that was something nobody saw coming."
"I have to admit, Wang's individual ability and