Although the Lakers' overall scoring was low,
they ultimately beat the Cavaliers by two points, thanks to the four-point lead they had built in the first quarter.
This was already the Lakers' third win in their last four games.
By now, everyone finally understood that the Lakers had undergone a fundamental transformation.
Especially in the three games the Lakers had won,
they had defeated strong teams ranked fourth in the West, third in the East, and fifth in the East.
Those wins carried serious weight.
Even in the one game they lost, they had pushed the league-leading Pistons into Double Overtime.
From then on, no one dared underestimate the Lakers again.
At that point, numerous sports experts began publishing their analyses.
Everyone agreed that the Lakers had completed a qualitative leap.
None of the other teams in the league dared look down on this depleted Lakers roster anymore.
And those haters who had previously mocked the Lakers and insisted their victories were merely a fleeting bloom
were mocked right back by hordes of Lakers and Wang Yi fans.
"This isn't just a fleeting bloom anymore. It's a second bloom, a third bloom, a fourth bloom!"
"There'll be fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth blooms next!"
Then Pang Bo returned as well.
With Pang Bo back, his offensive firepower could open things up for the Lakers on the offensive end and ease Shan He's scoring burden.
With Pang Bo, Shan He, and Zhang Yu, the offensive firepower of those three was more or less enough.
And Pang Bo's interior defense was no joke.
His defensive ability kept opponents from casually driving into the paint, so whenever they faced teams with unreliable three-point shooting, Wang Yi would put Pang Bo on the floor to lead the team.
But when they faced