Crucial Moment, Give Me The Ball

After Hachimura Rui scored, the flame that had been about to die out inside him seemed to blaze up again.

He even glanced over at Wang Yi, a faint hint of provocation in his eyes.

Wang Yi shook his head slightly.

Looks like someone's itching to get put in his place.

But for now, Wang Yi was guarding Westbrook, so he decided to leave Hachimura Rui alone.

He'd wait for the right moment, then put the guy down for good.

He'd make sure Hachimura Rui never dared show off in front of him again, and would have to go out of his way to avoid him.

Over the next few possessions,

with Wang Yi guarding him tightly, Westbrook tried two shots.

Perhaps his burst of energy had worn off; both shots lacked conviction.

And Wang Yi had shut down his drives. Even if Westbrook got into the paint, James and Drummond were waiting to block him.

So Westbrook could only pass the ball out.

Hachimura Rui, meanwhile, kept making plays.

He hit two mid-range shots, threw down a dunk, and made two hook shots near the basket.

After scoring on offense, he brought plenty of energy on defense.

He blocked Drummond's second-chance attempt.

He disrupted James's driving layup, then forced a turnover on Caruso as the shot clock ran out.

He was completely fired up now, transformed into a young go-getter once more.

Every time he made a good play, he punched the air and roared.

The crowd's excitement surged with him, again and again.

On the Wizards' sideline, the head coach finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Hachimura Rui had finally come alive.

What he didn't know was that by the end of the game, his Hachimura Rui would come back to life, only to die all over again.

Now, when Hachimura Rui looked at Wang Yi, the provocation in his eyes was even clearer.

He was almost starting to get cocky.

Wang Yi checked the game clock and shook his head to himself.

Not yet.

With Hachimura Rui playing so well, the Lakers were down by thirteen.

Fortunately, James took over the game.

He knocked down two threes in a row, converted a three-point play, and hit a mid-range shot.

That kept the Lakers from falling too far behind.

With five minutes left, the Lakers were down by just four.

The final five minutes of a game, with the margin within five points, were defined as clutch time.

And now, this game had reached its clutch time.

The cameras in the arena turned to James of the Lakers.

The Lakers players all looked toward James as well.

James was now thirty-eight years old.

He couldn't keep up physically like he used to.

Usually, he took over the game in the final five minutes.

But today, because the Lakers were trailing by so much, he had needed to step up earlier.

Over the past few minutes, he'd scored eleven points and dished out three assists, driving and shooting.

Now he was already gasping for breath.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel, took the bottle of water his coach handed him, and gulped it down.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

Even the coach felt for him.

A thirty-eight-year-old veteran shouldn't have to push himself this hard.

And even if he went back out there, could his body hold up for the final five minutes?

Even if he dragged his exhausted body through the game, made a bunch of clutch plays, and won, would it really be worth it?

This was only a regular-season game.

The little fuel James had left in the tank should be saved for the playoffs, or even the Finals.

Wearing him down this much during the regular season would hardly be worth it.

At that thought, the coach's lips moved.

He wanted to tell James that winning would be great, but if they couldn't, there was no need to push himself to the limit.

But as head coach, he also had to consider how the other players would feel.

They'd been fighting for almost the whole game, too. What would they think if he said that now?

They hadn't given up, but their coach had?

Vogel was caught in a dilemma.

Some of the veteran players understood what Vogel was thinking.

But young players like Kuzma and Caruso had no idea.

As far as they were concerned, there were five minutes left and they were only down by four.

The game was still very much winnable.

For a moment, the veterans all looked at the head coach.

It was up to him to weigh the options.

But everyone knew that whichever choice the coach made, it would hurt the Lakers in some way.

Choosing to win the game would wear James down.

Choosing to give up strategically would hurt the young players' morale.

Wang Yi was a young player, too.

He couldn't fully understand how much a person's physical abilities declined with age.

So he didn't know what the coach and the veteran players were thinking.

But he could tell that the coach seemed to be in a difficult position.

After a brief moment's thought, he walked over to Vogel.

"Coach, if there's a problem, give me the ball."

The Lakers players were all stunned.

Give me the ball.

It sounded incredibly bold.

But there were two requirements: first, you had to have the ability;

second, you had to have earned the right.

Back when Kobe Bryant was on the team, he was the only one who could say something like that.

No one dared question either his ability or his right to say it.

On the Lakers now, even James had never said anything like that.

He had the credentials, and he had the skill.

But he was the kind of player who put the team first. In clutch moments, he made what he believed was the best choice.

He might shoot, or he might pass.

Now Wang Yi, a ten-day-contract player, had said something like that at such a crucial moment.

To them, it sounded like something out of a fantasy.

But then again, Wang Yi had said plenty of outrageous things before—he'd come to conquer the NBA.

So it wasn't surprising that he'd say something like this now.

But anyone could talk big. Turning those words into reality was the hard part.

Head coach Vogel looked at Wang Yi.

Wang Yi stood ramrod straight, like a great spear thrusting toward the heavens.

Young!

Confident!

Full of energy!

Most of all, his eyes burned with a desire to fight.

Vogel had seen that hunger in a young Jordan, and in Kobe Bryant back in the day.

Now he saw it in Wang Yi, too.

In that moment, he understood.

This young man's fighting spirit was no less than Jordan's or Kobe Bryant's.

Vogel felt a stir inside him.

He turned to look at James.

James was looking at Wang Yi, too.

For a moment, he seemed to see a trace of his old big brother Kobe Bryant in Wang Yi.

After a moment, James nodded to Vogel.

"Let him try."

Vogel nodded.

"Wang, I'll give you two possessions to try."

He'd let Wang Yi try for two possessions first. If it didn't work, he could put James back in.

That would give James two possessions to rest.

For James right now, every second of rest was precious.

When Wang Yi saw the coach agree, he clenched his fists.

His blood was already boiling!