Half-time, down by 20 points, and despite playing at home, it was going to be very difficult for the Trail Blazers to come back.

They worked hard to close the gap in the third quarter. Lillard repeatedly attacked the basket, drawing fouls on Whiteside and forcing him out of the game early.

They found their rhythm on offense, scoring 30 points in the quarter.

But more than their offense, their biggest problem was that they couldn't defend the Pelicans.

Tang Tian scored another 10 points in this quarter, racking up 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in three quarters.

At the end of the third quarter, the Pelicans continued to lead 85-65.

At the start of the fourth quarter, both teams' starters were resting on the bench.

Tang Tian and Davis were chatting and laughing like it was the preseason.

For them, a big win in the opening game would be a great start to the season.

But at that moment, the situation on the court suddenly changed.

C.J. McCollum, the Trail Blazers' second-year player, suddenly exploded.

In just five minutes, he scored 11 points with a combination of drives and outside shots, helping the Trail Blazers narrow the deficit to within 15 points.

Williams was forced to call a timeout.

As he got up, Tang Tian glanced at McCollum, who was cheering with his teammates.

Speaking of which, McCollum was one of the most inspirational players in the NBA.

It's just that his inspiration is a little different from others.

This was a player who was only 1.58 meters tall when he was in the first year of high school.

Basketball is a sport that emphasizes talent. If you're not even 1.6 meters tall in high school, then you basically can't go down the path of basketball.

Not to mention thinking about playing in the NBA, that's just wishful thinking.

Most people might give up basketball at this point and turn to other things.

But McCollum didn't give up. He chose to continue honing his skills and entered the high school team with his excellent dribbling skills!

A high school student who is less than 1.6 meters tall is playing in a school-level game, he looks like an 8-year-old child.

He even received several times more ridicule than others in a game, and I don't know how many people around him persuaded him to give up.

But he persevered to the end, and God seemed to see his efforts and opened a window for him.

He spent three years in high school, growing a full 34 centimeters directly from 1.57 meters! Growing to 1.91 meters!

His persistence was rewarded, and his dribbling skills were as skilled as before, which finally opened the door to the NCAA and the NBA for him.

Now this inspirational player has brought a lot of trouble to the Pelicans.

After the timeout, Williams had to replace the starters ahead of schedule.

Whiteside was plagued by fouls, and Jokic was still left on the court.

The Trail Blazers also made a wave of substitutions, with all the main players except Batum returning, and McCollum staying on the court because of his excellent performance.

Tang Tian received the ball in the frontcourt and took the initiative to call Davis up for a pick-and-roll.

The Trail Blazers didn't dare to switch or double-team, and Tang Tian seized the space created by the pick-and-roll and hit a pull-up jumper.

This goal helped the Pelicans to widen the point difference back to 15 points.

Returning to the other end, Lillard took the initiative to pass the ball to McCollum, who caught the ball and drove to the basket, scoring a layup against Jokic with a speed difference.

Although his body looks thin and not strong in confrontation, his scoring ability is really good.

The Pelicans' offense.

After Tang Tian held the ball in the frontcourt, he called Ariza over for a pick-and-roll this time.

McCollum's story is very inspirational, but the NBA arena is very cruel.

After Ariza's screen, he took Matthews away, and Tang Tian singled out McCollum.

He shook and broke through to the inside, and McCollum kept up with his speed.

Jokic was very smart at this time, using his size to hold Lopez firmly in place and prevent the latter from coming over to help defend.

Tang Tian went to the basket against McCollum and jumped up directly.

"Bang!"

He forcibly dunked the ball into the basket over McCollum!

McCollum's thin body was knocked out of the court.

There was an uproar at the scene.

Tang Tian didn't show any mercy to McCollum.

Being dunked on, McCollum's mentality was somewhat affected. Back on the offensive end, his outside three-pointer missed.

Turning back, Tang Tian mismatched and hit him again, a pull-up three-pointer after a shake, directly extinguishing the Trail Blazers' hope of chasing points.

In the end, the Pelicans maintained their advantage until the end of the game, defeating the Trail Blazers 109-93 and winning the season opener.

On the Trail Blazers' side, Lillard had a team-high 26 points, but he only made 9 of 23 shots. Aldridge had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and McCollum contributed 15 points and 2 assists.

On the Pelicans' side, 6 players scored in double figures. Davis had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks, Holiday had 15 points and 6 assists, Jokic had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and Ariza and Gordon each had 12 points.

Tang Tian made 12 of 20 shots and had a game-high 32 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

He scored a lot of points, but he didn't take many shots. People who watched the game could see that he scored much easier than last season.

This is the change brought about by the improvement of his breakthrough.

Defensive players find it more difficult than ever to defend his breakthroughs and shots.

Of course, what impressed the fans the most were his two dunks.

One dunk on Matthews and one dunk on McCollum made fans think he was possessed by Westbrook.

After the game, Tang Tian, as the MVP of the game, was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines.

As he was talking, he suddenly felt someone approaching behind him.

He thought it was Metta World Peace again with water to pour on him, so he moved his head to dodge.

"Pa!"

As a result, he didn't expect to feel force on his butt.

He turned his head angrily.

You know, he had only been patted on the butt by Ginobili when he was in San Antonio.

That Metta World Peace...

Eh!

He turned his head and found that it wasn't Metta World Peace, but Davis!

Thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a big smile.

He was shocked.

He found it hard to imagine that it was actually Davis who had done that?!

Davis saw Tang Tian's expression, pointed to his head, and then ran away.

The meaning was obvious, Tang Tian touched his head for a season last season, and he was now going to retaliate by slapping his butt!

Tang Tian understood and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

For some reason, he always had the feeling that he was still playing for the Spurs.

After the reporter interview, Tang Tian did not return to the locker room, but went directly to the post-match press conference with Borrego.

Davis didn't come, and Williams was sitting there with Jokic ahead of time.

It could be seen that he was very satisfied with Jokic's performance.

The press conference started soon, and the first question was from a reporter from the local Portland media.

"The team's starting center Whiteside only had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Jokic, as a substitute, performed well. Will you put Jokic in the starting lineup in the next game?"

The Trail Blazers' loss made the local fans unhappy, and this reporter must have been one of them, as he asked a very provocative question.

If the answer to this question was yes, then Whiteside would definitely be hit hard. Conversely, if the answer was no, then Jokic next to him would be hit hard.

Williams didn't know how to answer for a while.

"Whiteside is our starting center, and as a teammate, I believe he will soon find his form in the game."

Tang Tian took the microphone at this time and replied.