Chapter 39 Mouth Battle

The two hadn't even officially faced off yet, and the trash talk had already begun.

But that's only because they had a good relationship. Otherwise, Tang Tian wouldn't bother bantering with anyone else.

Parker made both free throws, and the Spurs once again extended the lead to 10 points.

On the Warriors' offense, Nate Robinson used David Lee's pick-and-roll to drive inside.

David Lee moved to the free-throw line, and Thompson was also running off-ball around Udoh and Rush's screens.

But Tang Tian wasn't Jefferson. He could keep up with Thompson back in his NCAA days, and he was even better now after losing weight.

After a series of switches and squeezes, he was stuck to Thompson like glue.

Thompson ran around the court for almost a full rotation without getting a chance to catch the ball.

Robinson passed the ball back to David Lee, whose mid-range shot was contested by Parker and missed.

Splitter grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Spurs ran an Ai play on the frontcourt. Green continued to fire away from beyond the arc, and his outside touch was excellent tonight.

Back on the other end, with the same play, Thompson was still completely shut down by Tang Tian and couldn't get a chance to catch the ball. Robinson passed the ball to Rush this time.

Green pounced to contest, and Rush's three-pointer missed. Splitter grabbed another defensive rebound.

Parker dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and ran a td.step hammer play. The Warriors' defensive focus was drawn to Green and Parker.

Tang Tian got an open look on the outside, and after receiving the ball, he quickly shot before Thompson could recover.

"Swish!"

The three-pointer went in cleanly.

A burst of cheers erupted from the crowd.

The original 10-point gap, with Green and Tang Tian sinking two consecutive three-pointers, suddenly became 16 points.

Jackson was a little restless at this point and called for a change in tactics from the sidelines.

The Warriors adjusted their tactics in the frontcourt, with David Lee dropping to the low post to receive the ball for a one-on-one.

The Warriors spread the floor wide, and Lee spun around and banked the shot off the glass over Blair.

Thompson was a little discouraged at this point. He suddenly felt that he shouldn't have said those things to Tang Tian earlier.

After joining the Warriors, he had also been losing weight and gaining muscle, and he thought he could finally get revenge for being abused all summer.

But he didn't expect Tang Tian to be even more terrifying than he imagined when he got serious. He really didn't want to give him any breathing room, almost hugging him back-to-back.

But even if he was discouraged, he wouldn't admit defeat. If he didn't have a chance on the offensive end, he would find one on the defensive end.

If he couldn't score, he wouldn't let Tang Tian score either.

On the Spurs' offense, the Warriors' defensive formation was stretched a bit too far. Tang Tian and Green were closely guarded after making those three-pointers.

Parker didn't have a good chance when he got to the basket and was met by Udoh.

Just as he was about to dribble back out to the perimeter to reorganize, a figure suddenly cut in from the outside.

Tang Tian!

Taking advantage of Thompson's full focus on defending his three-point shot, Tang Tian took two seemingly casual steps, then suddenly turned and made a back cut into the paint.

Parker saw it and tossed the pass, and Tang Tian caught the ball and laid it in directly.

Thompson reacted and chased back on defense, but he could only watch as Tang Tian scored.

He felt a bit bitter inside. When did Tang Tian learn this move?

This wasn't something a 3-and-D player could do!

On the Warriors' offense, Lee was double-teamed in the low post, and he passed the ball out to Rush.

Green's recovery speed was very fast, and Rush hesitated for a moment on the pass, and the opportunity was gone.

But at that moment, he saw Thompson also cutting to the basket at full speed.

This was directly copying Tang Tian's play from the previous possession, learning and applying it on the spot.

Rush tossed the pass.

Thompson caught the ball and went up for a layup.

Splitter reached out to contest at the basket.

He went for a side-angle layup.

"Pa!"

But just as he released the ball, Tang Tian came flying in from behind and blocked the shot out of bounds with a clean block.

A burst of whistles and cheers erupted from the crowd.

Tang Tian got a new hairstyle, and his performance has gone to another level!

Thompson's inner bitterness was more than just a little at this point. Damn it, this wasn't fair!

No one helped defend Tang Tian's cut to the basket, but when he cut to the basket, Splitter came to help defend?

If it hadn't been for Splitter, he would have definitely made the shot before Tang Tian's block.

Tang Tian saw Thompson's somewhat bitter expression and reached out to pat him.

Actually, he also knew that Splitter's help was a big part of him being able to make that block, but what could he do? The Spurs' defense was just better than the Warriors'!

On the Warriors' inbound play, David Lee faced a double-team in the low post and spun around for a difficult hook shot off the glass, which he made.

Lee's defense was average, but his offense was indeed very good. The Warriors had been relying on him to score during this stretch.

The gap was still 16 points.

On the Spurs' offense, Parker continued to run the zip hammer play. Tang Tian caught the ball and saw Thompson closing out aggressively. He waited a moment before shooting.

"Pa!"

Thompson hit Tang Tian's hand, drawing a foul on a three-point attempt.

He reached up and put his hands on his head after the foul, looking extremely frustrated.

During offseason training, he was only abused by Tang Tian in three-point contests and 2-on-2 games. Now, here he was on the NBA court, still unable to escape being abused!

Tang Tian stepped to the free-throw line and made all three free throws.

Free throws were static shots, and the accuracy was related to the shooting form, mental state, training level, and so on.

With Prokopiou's help, Tang Tian's shooting form was even more standardized than in his NCAA days. His mental fortitude was also definitely top-notch, and with constant extra practice, he could maintain a very high accuracy rate even without the Free Throw King skill.

This was indirectly saving him 50,000 in-game credits.

At this point, both sides began to make substitutions. The Spurs took out all their starters, and the Warriors also gradually brought in their substitutes.

Thompson was still left on the court, and it seemed that Mark Jackson didn't want him to be taken out after playing poorly, which would lead to him losing confidence.

On the Warriors' offense, Robinson directly called for Thompson to set a screen for him on the perimeter. After the screen, he broke through and passed the ball back to Thompson.

Mills was a little slow on the switch, and Thompson had a good chance to shoot.

But after he shot, the angle was ridiculously off, and it almost ended up being an air ball.

After that stretch of matchups with Tang Tian, both his touch and his mentality had obviously fluctuated.

The Spurs were superior in every way, both in terms of talent and tactics.

The first quarter was actually a microcosm of the entire game. They were pressing the Warriors for almost the entire game.

A very cruel reality was that by the fourth quarter, because the game wasn't suspenseful, a large portion of the audience had already left.

In the end, the Spurs defeated the Warriors 103-81 at home, winning all three of their games after the start of the season.

Tang Tian played 26 minutes, shooting 5-for-10 from the field, 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line, scoring 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. His performance was quite stable and eye-catching.

On the other side, Klay Thompson shot just 2-for-9 from the field, scoring only 6 points.