Williams nodded.

He was willing to listen to his teammates' suggestions and was a good match with Tang Tian.

Returning for the second half, both sides were doing their final warm-ups before the start of the second half.

Rockets coach McHale was on the sidelines giving an interview to reporters.

"The team lost a full 61 points in the first half. What went wrong with the team's defense?"

The reporter's question was sharp.

"We didn't know before the game that Tang had developed new offensive moves. We were caught a little off guard, but as we did in the second quarter, we've adjusted. We'll do better on the defensive end in the second half."

McHale's answer was honest, but also to the point.

Tang Tian scored 17 points in the first quarter, 10 of which came from pull-up jumpers. They were indeed caught off guard.

But Tang Tian only scored 5 points in the second quarter, which shows that their adjustment was useful.

After the warm-up, the second half of the game continued.

The Rockets attacked first, with Harden holding the ball on the outside.

But at that moment, he noticed that the defender in front of him had changed. It was no longer Holiday defending him, but Tang Tian.

The Pelicans made an adjustment.

After last year's playoffs, Harden still had some shadows in his mind about Tang Tian's defense.

When he saw him this time, he immediately signaled Asik to come up for a pick-and-roll.

Asik set a high pick-and-roll, but it didn't work.

Last season's data showed that Tang Tian was the best player at going around screens, and his data value was far ahead of second-place Tony Allen.

Asik's continuous pick-and-rolls didn't work, so Harden could only choose to pass the ball to his teammates, or force his way past Tang Tian.

He chose the latter.

He was confident in his hard work during the offseason to break the press.

The Rockets' teammates spread out, Harden's crossover dribble, and a sudden step of acceleration.

His speed was noticeably faster than last season, and his judgment of defense was also better.

But Tang Tian still blocked his way.

The current Harden is not yet the Harden who would later become one with the ball, and the league has not yet introduced the kind of ticky-tack fouls where a slight touch would result in a foul.

It was difficult for Harden to break through him head-on.

Harden's way was blocked, and he still had no chance to change his rhythm in place. He chose his signature step-back.

Tang Tian's pounce gave him interference.

Harden wanted to trick Tang Tian into fouling, but Tang Tian dodged it. The shot after twisting in the air was a complete air ball.

The crowd was in an uproar.

This scene was familiar!

Harden was defended by Tang Tian like this last year!

After an offseason, nothing has changed. Your daddy is still your daddy.

On the Pelicans' offense, Parsons defended Tang Tian around the side, and Beverley also blocked the way on Tang Tian's side.

This was a very obvious tactic to prevent Tang Tian from receiving the ball.

However, the Pelicans didn't seem to want to focus on attacking Tang Tian as they did in the first half.

Seeing that Beverley didn't let him go head-on, Holiday broke through directly to the inside on the left.

Beverley couldn't chase back in time, and Asik was forced to come out to help defend again.

This time, Holiday threw the ball directly above the basket.

Davis jumped high, grabbed the basketball with his long arms, and then dunked in the air!

The Pelicans took the lead in the second half!

The Rockets advanced to the frontcourt. Jones's isolation play against Anderson was interfered with by Davis's help defense, and Davis grabbed the defensive rebound.

The ball was given to Holiday, and the Pelicans directly pushed for a fast break.

Holiday, Gordon, and Tang Tian's three-man fast break.

Harden and Beverley retreated.

Holiday passed the ball to Tang Tian, who then passed it to Gordon.

Gordon broke through to the basket, and Harden just made a symbolic gesture with his eyes.

Gordon rushed to the basket and easily made a layup.

The Pelicans started the second half with a 4-0 run, once again extending the lead to double digits!

McHale said in the interview before the start of the second half that the Rockets lost 61 points in the first half because Tang Tian's pull-up jumpers caught them off guard.

But that was one aspect. More importantly, it was the Rockets' own defense.

Asik's rim protection was good, but his movement speed was slow.

Not to mention Jones, a typical noob killer. If he wasn't facing Anderson, he would be a black hole on both offense and defense.

And Harden, maybe he wasted too much energy on practicing breaking the press during the offseason, and started playing defense with his eyes.

With three pits in the starting five, Parsons and Beverley definitely couldn't carry them.

Harden broke through Tang Tian again in the frontcourt. This time, Tang Tian seized the opportunity and directly stole the ball!

After being stolen, Harden again played defense with his eyes, reaching out to complain to the referee, without even bothering to chase.

After the steal, Tang Tian threw the ball to Holiday, and then quickly launched a fast break.

Holiday's pass from the backcourt. After Tang Tian received the ball, he saw that Davis was following up quickly, and made a precise through ball.

Davis caught the ball and took three big steps, dunking with one hand over Parsons' help defense!

Tang and Davis's cooperation!

6-0!

McHale looked dumbfounded on the sidelines.

Was this the same Pelicans team he played against last season?

Tang Tian catching them off guard in the first half was one thing, but the Pelicans were completely blossoming on multiple points in the second half!

Harden's step-back three-pointer still didn't go in.

McHale turned around and called Lin Shuhao and Motiejunas up. The team needed to get the offense going first.

The Pelicans attacked to the frontcourt. Davis set a high-quality pick-and-roll for Tang Tian on the right side.

Tang Tian came around and took a three-point shot.

"Swish!"

The basketball went through the net.

Davis was returning the favor!

The Pelicans had already gone on a 9-0 run against the Rockets in the second half!

McHale's halftime adjustment was declared a failure at the start!

Moreover, the Pelicans' multi-point blossoming scene was even worse than in the first half!

Before Lin Shuhao could come on the court, he reached out and called a timeout again.

Both the first and second halves had just started for three minutes before he called a timeout. McHale's operation was estimated to become a hot topic for fans after the game.

After the timeout, the Rockets switched back to their previous simple man-to-man defense.

But in this way, Tang Tian's mid-range pull-up jumpers continued to hit.

And there was even a good show of fading Parsons for a basket.

The pull-up jumper is like this. Like Tang Tian at the start, choosing a reasonable shot has a high hit rate, but if you feel good, you can ignore the defense.

Harden helped the team chase points with drives and free throws at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but with one king carrying four bronzes, his physical strength clearly showed problems in the second half of the quarter.

The Pelicans eventually won the game 120-105.

Harden made 13 of 15 free throws, scoring 33 points, 6 assists, and 6 turnovers. No one else on the Rockets besides Lin Shuhao and Parsons scored in double figures.

All five Pelicans starters scored in double figures.

Davis had 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks, Anderson had 17 points and 3 rebounds, Gordon had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Holiday had 11 points and 7 assists.

Tang Tian's debut for the Pelicans was even more explosive.

He made 16 of 26 shots, including 3 of 7 three-pointers, scoring 37 points, 10 assists, and 4 steals!

At the beginning of the season, he broke his career scoring record and scored his first 30+10!

ps: Today is the featured recommendation, I will try to write a few more chapters!!