In the third quarter, Lillard had gone completely berserk.
He had hit five of eight three-pointers, two of two two-pointers, and all three free throws.
He had scored 22 points by himself.
He was practically dragging his team forward all on his own.
Fortunately, when the Trail Blazers began closing the gap, James also stepped up, hitting three three-pointers and dishing out five assists in the quarter.
That kept Lillard from wiping out the lead.
Wang Yi hadn't tried to shut Lillard down completely.
Because once Lillard got going, he was impossible to stop.
All Wang Yi could do was keep double-teaming him with his teammates, forcing Lillard to pass as soon as he crossed half court.
Of course, that came with a risk: the other Lakers would be left defending while outnumbered.
But it was a choice.
With two kinds of poison in front of you, you had to choose one.
The double-teams curbed Lillard's scoring run.
But McCollum caught fire.
He hit one mid-range jumper after another.
Meanwhile, the Lakers' other players collectively started shooting terribly from three again in the third quarter.
Nobody could hit a shot. It was an old problem for the Lakers.
For two years running, their three-point percentage had been near the bottom of the league.
Before Wang Yi arrived, the team's most accurate three-point shooter had actually been Old Zhan.
Their poor shooting from three meant that by the end of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers had cut the deficit to just four points.
As for Wang Yi, he had put too much energy into defending Lillard, so aside from making two three-pointers in the third quarter, he hadn't scored much.
During the break between quarters, some unpleasant comments started appearing in the Tencent NBA Live Broadcast Room's chat.
"Loser Lakers,