Wang Yi showed Little Ray Allen no mercy.
After two crossover dribbles, he stepped sideways, pulled up, and took a three-point shot. The ball went in again.
The Celtics' head coach could barely take it anymore. He hurriedly shouted from the sideline:
"Man-to-man, One-on-One defense, One-on-One defense!"
If they kept playing zone defense, their perimeter would be shot full of holes.
Seeing the Celtics use zone defense for three possessions and allow three three-pointers, commentator Shaquille O'Neal laughed and said after they quickly switched back to man-to-man:
"Stevenson really has some nerve, using zone defense against the Lakers?"
There had been two Great Flood Eras in NBA history: one with the Toronto Raptors and one with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Wang Yi and Zhang Yu had both been core members during those two Great Flood Eras.
And Wang Yi was the player with the highest Three-point Percentage in NBA history.
His career three-point percentage had reached 47%.
Using zone defense against the Lakers under those circumstances was practically suicide!
Pierce could only give an awkward laugh beside him, with no way to respond.
He realized that everything Shaquille O'Neal said today seemed to be right.
In essence, the Lakers' Scoring Efficiency today was absurdly high no matter how they played, completely different from the preseason.
Pierce was right. These Lakers really were worlds apart from the preseason Lakers.
Although it looked as though the only difference was the addition of Wang Yi, that was precisely the crucial point.
When Wang Yi was on the court, the Lakers had far more options within their tactical system.
Second, when Wang Yi was on the court, most of the opposing defense focused on him, making it easier for everyone else on the Lakers to perform.
The final point was also the most important: