He was unstoppable on offense, and his passing vision remained elite.
When the defense sent a double-team, he kicked the ball to the corner. He threaded perfect passes to cutting teammates, directed their movement, and shifted the defense, bringing the entire Lakers team to life.
In the fourth-quarter crunch, the Trail Blazers tried to claw their way back. Wang Yi scored eight crucial points in a row, then sank a cold-blooded three that extinguished all hope of a comeback.
When the final buzzer sounded, the box score left everyone stunned--
Wang Yi went 19-for-28 from the field, 8-for-12 from three, and a perfect 10-for-10 from the line, racking up 56 points and 11 assists.
At the age of 40, in the grueling NBA Playoffs Second Round, he had dropped 56 points and recorded a double-double.
It was the first time in the NBA's hundred-year history. No one had ever done it before.
The haters who had been shouting online just moments earlier fell completely silent.
One moment they had been mocking him as "washed, useless, and riding his teammates' coattails." The next, his epic 56-point performance had slapped them hard in the face.
Some deleted their posts. Others fell silent. All those earlier sneers had turned into slaps landing on their own faces.
No one dared question it anymore: at 40, Wang Yi was still the most terrifying weapon in the league.
That epic G2 blowout shattered the Trail Blazers' mental defenses.
In G3 and G4, the Lakers controlled the tempo completely.
Wang Yi knew when to hold back and when to let loose. When his shot was falling, he took over the game; when it wasn't, he got the whole team involved. On defense, he remained as steady as a rock.
The Lakers' bench continued to produce consistently. The