Stephen A. Smith, the commentator by the court, clenched both fists, his palms slick with sweat, and said nervously, "He's going to attack, he's going to attack, he's going to attack!"
Nikola Jokic said tensely as well, "Let's see how he handles this final possession. How will he attack?"
Yet Wang Yi still did not attack. He remained standing there quietly, holding the ball one-handed and extending it behind his back, using his body to shield Samuel.
And so, time continued to slip away.
4 seconds.
3 seconds.
2 seconds.
With every passing second, Samuel's nerves tightened further.
By the time there were 2 seconds left, he felt as though his nerves were about to snap.
All the fans in the arena felt the same way.
With every second that ticked away, their nerves grew tighter, and they all felt as if they were about to break.
The tens of millions of viewers around the world watching this moment also had their nerves wound tight.
With every passing second, they felt their nerves tighten further. By the final 2 seconds, they were nearly at their breaking point.
Yet even with 2 seconds left, Wang Yi still had not moved.
On the sideline, the Nuggets' head coach felt as though his nerves were about to snap as well.
Was it life or death? Could this be over already?
Finally, under the gaze of more than 20,000 pairs of eyes in the arena and tens of millions more around the world, time reached its final second.
And at that moment, Wang Yi finally moved.
He drove off his left foot first, then rammed forward with his right shoulder.
The shove landed heavily against Samuel's chest.
Samuel was taller than Wang Yi and had a longer wingspan, but by NBA standards, he was