Chapter 1 After the Ceremony

After the opening ceremony, the venue also held an awards ceremony for Tang Tian to receive his championship ring.

There were cheers at the scene, but they were scattered.

The boos before had already shown the attitude of the fans here; they no longer loved Tang Tian as they used to.

After the awards ceremony, the starting players of both sides took to the court one after another, and the game was about to begin.

"Beep!"

With a whistle from the referee, Davis outjumped Duncan, giving the Pelicans the opportunity to attack first.

The Pelicans positioned themselves in the frontcourt, and Tang Tian, ​​with his back to Leonard, reached out to catch the pass from Holiday.

After Gordon became a substitute, the Pelicans only had Holiday and Tang Tian with the ability to initiate offense.

Tang Tian's ability was much stronger than Holiday's, so he was naturally the team's first choice.

Morrow spread out to create space in the corner, and Holiday also pulled Parker, who was defending him, to the weak side after passing the ball.

Popovich knew that Tang Tian was good at passing the ball, so he didn't risk a double-team at this time, but let Leonard defend him one-on-one.

Since Tang Tian left, Leonard has made obvious progress, averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block per game, making him the Spurs' leading scorer.

With both offense and defense, he was the biggest consolation for Spurs fans after Tang Tian's explosive performance.

The one-on-one between the two drew cheers from the crowd.

Tang Tian turned to face the basket in a triple threat stance.

His understanding of Leonard wasn't just from being teammates for two years; they had done hair together and shed sweat together at night countless times.

Plus, with his observation skills as a coach, he probably knew his own skills better than Leonard himself.

A crossover fake, followed by a quick gather, using his left foot as a force point, a step-back jumper after a dribble to the right.

Leonard pounced to defend, but his speed was obviously a bit slow to catch up.

Leonard is a small forward who is good at physical confrontation; he would be the best choice to defend James.

But relatively speaking, his speed is a disadvantage.

This is also why when Tang Tian was still with the Spurs, every time the Spurs played against the Thunder, Tang Tian would match up against Durant, and Leonard would be blown away as soon as he went up.

Every player has his own strengths in defending certain opponents, including Tang Tian. Before he gained weight, he couldn't match up against James at all.

20% step-back stability, plus 20% reduction in defensive interference.

Signature scissor legs, a beautiful posture.

Tang Tian's step-back shot passed over Leonard's fingertips.

"Swish!"

A clean swish.

The cheers at the scene stopped abruptly.

Tang Tian succeeded in a one-on-one against Leonard right away!

Popovich reached out and stroked his beard at this time.

Tang Tian's one-on-one is indeed difficult to defend now.

The Spurs' offense, a hammer play in the frontcourt, Morrow was blocked by Duncan, and Green caught the ball and made a three-pointer.

The Pelicans' defense this season relies on the players' fighting spirit and is in the top fifteen in the league, but it is obviously not enough against a veteran team like the Spurs.

The Pelicans attacked the frontcourt again, and Leonard was now going around in front of Tang Tian.

Although Tang Tian had left the Spurs, the wealth he left to the Spurs was still there. Leonard and Green's defensive habits and awareness had learned a lot from Tang Tian.

Tang Tian knew that it would be difficult for him to receive the ball, so he signaled Holiday to run a play.

Jason Smith moved to the high post to screen for Holiday, and Holiday dribbled towards the inside.

At the same time, Davis also moved to the right to screen for Tang Tian.

Leonard was solidly blocked by Davis, and Holiday broke through and passed the ball to Tang Tian.

The play was well executed, but Holiday's passing ability was a bit lacking, and the pass was a bit low.

After Tang Tian received the ball, Leonard had already bypassed Davis's defense and pounced over.

Tang Tian didn't stop, a step-back fake shook Leonard up, and then another step-back jumper after a dribble.

This time Leonard didn't have time to turn around to defend.

Tang Tian's handsome figure was frozen in the air into an elegant photo.

"Swish!"

Tang Tian made two consecutive step-back shots after the opening!

The sidelines were restless.

Leonard seemed to have no way to deal with Tang Tian's step-back.

The Spurs continued to run the hammer play in the frontcourt.

"Spread out!"

Tang Tian shouted at Holiday and Morrow at this time.

He knew very well how the hammer play worked, and defending the outside was basically half the battle.

And he spread out himself when he shouted.

The Spurs' outside pick-and-roll didn't have a good opportunity, and when Leonard tactically broke through to the basket, he shot directly himself.

"Bang!"

But Davis flew to help defend and gave a chase-down block!

"Wow, this help defense speed, talent visible to the naked eye!"

Smith exclaimed from the commentary booth.

"He's a Hornet, flying in the air to play!"

Barkley casually gave Anthony Davis a new nickname at this time.

Davis's ability to help defend was also the reason why Tang Tian asked Holiday and Morrow to spread out their defense.

After Davis swung to the power forward position, the Pelicans' inside was no longer as flimsy as it was at the beginning of the season!

"Defense! Defense!"

The situation on the court seemed a bit unfavorable, and the on-site DJ began to lead the fans to cheer for the home team.

Tang Tian received Holiday's pass after facing off against Leonard in the frontcourt.

When he turned around again, Leonard was already marking him tightly, not giving him any space at all.

Tang Tian's weakness was exposed at this time. Without a stable enough dribble, he couldn't get rid of Leonard's high-pressure defense on his own.

But he obviously wasn't fighting alone.

Davis came over quickly to set a screen after seeing this.

Tang Tian then dribbled a step after the screen, and before Duncan could help defend, he directly made a quick step-back shot.

Duncan's desire to win wasn't strong this season, and his condition was a bit of a cliff, so the interference he provided was limited.

"Swish!"

The basketball, once again, went through the net cleanly!

The shouts at the scene stopped abruptly!

Tang Tian scored 6 consecutive points to start the game!

Perhaps because of the boos at the beginning, or perhaps because he had already made up his mind, Tang Tian was showing no mercy against his old club, the Spurs!

Leonard shook his head helplessly at this time.

When Tang Tian was still with the Spurs, he was actually like a younger brother in front of Tang Tian. Tang Tian, ​​as an older brother, helped him untie his knot and taught him to improve.

Now that Tang Tian had left the Spurs, and the two were facing off on the court, he was still completely at a disadvantage.

A younger brother is still a younger brother after all.

Tang Tian's performance was still excellent in the first quarter despite Leonard's high-pressure defense, scoring 13 points and 3 assists in a single quarter, helping the Pelicans to hold their own at 25 to 29.

Both sides made substitutions in the second quarter.

On the Spurs' side, Diaw, Belinelli, and Ginobili came on the court one after another.

The bench behind them was also an important part of the Spurs' past consecutive championships.

On the Pelicans' side, Gordon and Anderson also replaced players on the court one after another.

After four minutes into the second quarter, the score on the court was 31 to 35.

The Pelicans' bench was holding its own against the Spurs!

This was the Pelicans after the starting lineup had been readjusted. Their bench depth was not necessarily worse than the Spurs'!

"They really have a chance to win this game!"

O'Neal said with a big laugh in the commentary booth.

Before the game started, the Spurs were second in the West, and the Pelicans were eighth in the West. There was a gap between the two teams in terms of paper strength and season performance.

But from the start of the game until now, the Pelicans have been playing well, and it's really not like they have no chance!