A step of contraction, he was preparing to lock down Tang Tian.

But just then, something happened that he didn't expect.

Tang Tian didn't use a step-back jumper, but instead accelerated directly inside, and after a series of physical confrontations with him.

"Bang!"

He slammed him open and charged straight in!

That hurt.

That was the first feeling he got in his arm, because he wasn't prepared at all, and his muscles were completely relaxed.

After such a sudden and violent confrontation in this state, he didn't even have time to exert force to chase after him, let alone the pain.

Looking at Tang Tian's receding back, he couldn't hide the surprise in his eyes.

Tang Tian's confrontation was obviously stronger than when they played against each other last season.

In fact, the 5kg weight gain wasn't very noticeable because of the low body fat percentage.

But it was very obvious after the confrontation, not to mention that Tang Tian also had a 10% confrontation bonus from the Dynamite Pack skill.

Tang Tian's previous breakthroughs were relatively awkward, and this sudden and decisive breakthrough was completely unexpected by the Warriors.

Bogut's help defense was obviously a little slow, and when he reached out to block, he directly hit Tang Tian's hand.

Tang Tian got two free throw opportunities.

15% chance of drawing a foul.

Most people's impression of Maggette stopped at the muscles that could compete in bodybuilding competitions.

But in fact, because of his strong body and rough style of play, before Martin and Harden were born, he was a well-known foul-drawing king in the league.

In the early 2000s, when foul calls were much looser than they are now, he averaged 10 free throws per game for two seasons.

Tang Tian adjusted and then made both free throws steadily, breaking the Pelicans' scoring drought.

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Tang Tian was still reliable at the critical moment!

The Warriors' frontcourt offense.

Curry held the ball at the top of the arc to organize, and Thompson ran off-ball using David Lee's pick.

He ran into position, and Curry's pass followed, and he shot a three-pointer after receiving the ball.

But Davis helped defend at this time, and his long arms completely covered his shooting angle.

The current Warriors are not the Warriors of the future who play infinite off-ball movement, but Davis, from the beginning, was one of the best interior players in terms of switching defenses.

"Bang!"

Thompson raised the arc of his shot under great defensive pressure, but the ball hit the front edge of the rim and popped out.

In terms of positional warfare, the Pelicans' lineup defense is not bad.

Smith protected the defensive rebound under the basket.

Although he is a white interior player, he is 2.13 meters tall and weighs 106 kilograms after all. He can stand his ground under the basket, and he can still protect the defensive rebound.

Holiday attacked to the frontcourt, and passed the ball to Tang Tian before he even asked for position.

Tang Tian played against Iguodala again.

Iguodala still defended closely.

Tang Tian faked a shot and took another step.

Iguodala still took a step back and stuck to him. This time he tightened his muscles and wouldn't let Tang Tian pass easily again.

"Bang!"

But after a confrontation, Tang Tian still got past.

Iguodala looks muscular, but that's because of his low body fat percentage. He weighs less than 95 kilograms, so he doesn't have an advantage against the current Tang Tian in a hard confrontation.

But he turned around and chased after him.

Bogut saw Iguodala chasing, but didn't come over to help defend.

He already had one foul, and if he got two fouls in one quarter, he would have to go down.

Tang Tian's three-step layup.

Iguodala jumped up from behind to chase and block, putting all his strength into it.

The two had a confrontation in the air, but Tang Tian controlled his body very well.

"Beep!"

The referee blew his whistle again, indicating a defensive foul by Iguodala.

And right after the foul, Tang Tian still maintained his posture and shot the ball.

"Swish!"

The ball fell into the net after hitting the backboard!

It was a 2+1!

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

The Pelicans' bench erupted in excited shouts, and Darius Miller waved his towel wildly.

Iguodala held his head in his hands after landing, and this call was indeed correct, there was aerial contact.

Mark Jackson was stunned on the sidelines at this time.

It would be one thing if Tang Tian could shoot step-back jumpers after returning from the offseason, but how could his breakthroughs have improved to this level in less than a month?

Tang Tian's free throw opportunity.

He shook his hand. Although this skill was good, it was too much of a burden on his body and was not suitable as a primary scoring method.

This was probably one of the reasons why it could only be a blue skill.

He adjusted his breathing and made the free throw.

With one shot, he had already scored 5 points.

He was experiencing Harden-style scoring pleasure.

But the difference between him and Harden was that he earned his free throws with real, hard confrontations.

David Lee and Bogut had an off-ball pick-and-roll in the frontcourt, and then Lee received the ball and scored with a turnaround layup against Smith.

In Mark Jackson's coaching philosophy, in addition to fast break defense, mismatch isolation is also a very important part.

7 to 5, the Warriors are really much stronger than last season.

Holiday passed the ball to Tang Tian in the high post in the frontcourt, he was really preparing to use Tang Tian as Kobe.

After his teammates spread out, Tang Tian continued to face the basket.

This time Iguodala bent down, his expression more serious than ever.

He had told Thompson before the game to leave Tang Tian to him, but he had failed to defend him for two consecutive possessions.

He was afraid that he was going to slap himself in the face.

Seeing Iguodala's actions, Tang Tian directly pulled up for a jump shot on the spot.

The essence of the step-back jumper is suddenness, just like Reo Mibuchi's Void Shot in *Kuroko's Basketball*.

Because the defensive reaction is too slow due to the suddenness, it's like being frozen in place.

This could often be seen when McGrady was playing at his peak.

McGrady would be in the air with his legs spread like scissors, and the defending player would be staring at him blankly on the floor.

Iguodala was too low to the ground at this time, and it was too late to pounce out after getting up, he could only reach out, but the interference was very limited.

"Swish!"

Tang Tian's jumper went over Iguodala's head and directly pierced the net.

He had successfully isolated Iguodala three times in a row!

When a player can break through and shoot, and both have reached a certain level, the difficulty of defense lies in the fact that it is difficult to predict what his choice will be.

"Should I come?"

Thompson took the initiative to run to Iguodala's side to ask during the offense.

His defense may not be better than Iguodala's, but he is more familiar with Tang Tian.

Iguodala shook his head.

Although he doesn't pursue honors or anything like that very much, he still needs to save face.

If he didn't defend after being scored on three times in a row, that would be too embarrassing.

The Warriors' frontcourt offense failed to score, and when they turned around, Iguodala began to go around Tang Tian to prevent him from receiving the ball.

Tang Tian ran off-ball, and after calling for Davis' pick-and-roll, the defender switched to David Lee.

Holiday's ball was delivered in time, and Tang Tian broke through Lee, with Iguodala chasing behind him.

This was a closing door tactic, blocking from the front and back, completely sealing off Tang Tian's shooting angle.

But just as the two were about to form a double team, Tang Tian suddenly flicked his hand, and a straight pass sent the ball through the gap to Davis!

Davis followed up and scored with a layup after receiving the ball!

9 to 7!

The Pelicans took the lead!

Iguodala looked frustrated.

He could break through, he could shoot, and he could even pass!

How was this even more difficult to defend than Kobe!

After all, Kobe would have just shot in the situation just now.