Danny found himself open. Though he missed the shot, Akur grabbed the rebound and passed it back to Danny, who knocked down the next one.
Bryce drove to the free throw line and casually sank a mid-range shot.
Just like that, the Lakers' offensive efficiency remained consistently high.
The Celtics' offense was not bad either, but compared with the Lakers' near-perfect ability to score on almost every possession, they still fell short.
Finally, with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Stevenson could no longer take it. If this continued, the Celtics would be picked apart like a sieve.
So he called a Timeout.
He told the players not to keep double-teaming Wang Yi off the ball once they returned to the court.
Instead, their Point Guard, Jamal Carter, would stick to Wang Yi and do everything possible to prevent him from receiving the ball.
Only when Wang Yi had the ball would they send a double-team at him.
When both sides returned to the court, the Celtics' adjustment did have some effect at first.
Over two straight possessions, Wang Yi committed one turnover and was forced into a desperate miss as the 24-second clock expired on the other.
The Celtics fans finally seemed to glimpse a sliver of hope. But on the next possession...
Wang Yi took the ball directly at midcourt.
Facing Jamal Carter, Little Ray Allen saw Wang Yi receive the ball and hurried over to close in.
Wang Yi then fired a pass that seemed guided by satellite navigation, delivering it with pinpoint accuracy to Bryce, who had just cut to the basket.
Bryce went straight up for a cutting layup and easily collected Two-pointer.
On the next possession, Wang Yi received the ball on the right wing. As Little Ray Allen came over to double-team