A 2-and-1 immediately cut the point difference to one.
On the other end, the Lakers went on offense. With the opponent's high-pressure defense, Zhang Jiacheng found it very difficult to drive.
Whenever Pang Bo came over to set a screen, Antoine's long arms would smother Zhang Jiacheng, making it hard for him to handle the ball.
Unable to deal with the ball, and to avoid having it stolen for a fast-break counterattack, Zhang Jiacheng simply hugged the ball and waited out the 24-second shot clock in the final two seconds.
Head Coach Phil Jackson shook his head at the sight. There was no helping it—the gap in lineup strength between the two teams was simply too great.
They had to wait for Wang Yi to return, so Phil Jackson called a timeout.
This timeout gave Wang Yi another 75 seconds of rest.
Seventy-five seconds later, Phil Jackson sent Wang Yi back onto the court.
At this point, Wang Yi felt as if the symptoms in his right leg had completely disappeared. But from experience, he knew he still could not run or jump intensely.
If he did it a few more times, the cramp would inevitably return.
But the situation before him did not allow him to worry about that.
As soon as he checked in, the other side went on offense first.
By this stage of the game, both teams' stamina had dropped sharply.
So the other side no longer relied on outside shooting. Instead, they attacked the paint directly.
They had King Arthur drive into the paint to draw fouls, while Antoine used his height and wingspan advantage to work inside.
Sure enough, their strategy worked. They had King Arthur isolate against Wang Yi.
With Wang Yi completely out of gas, King Arthur got past him in a