Halfway through the game, the Pelicans led the Heat 56 to 33 by a large margin.

The defending champions were in complete disarray.

During the halftime break, Spoelstra sat in his coach's office, looking somewhat withdrawn.

Just last season, he had led the team to the championship, but now they were being thoroughly beaten by the Pelicans.

This was truly a case of thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.

He pulled out the statistics to take a look.

Without Bosh and James, scoring had become very difficult for the Heat. Their field goal percentage for the first half was just over 30%, and Wade, who had the highest score, only had 12 points.

On the Pelicans' side, Tang Tian only contributed 12 points in the first half, but the two inside players performed remarkably well.

Whiteside had 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks, while Davis had 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

It felt like the Pelicans' Big Three were playing.

He looked at it for a long time.

Although he knew that it would be difficult for the Heat to even make the playoffs this season, he was still unwilling after just winning the championship.

In the end, he focused his attention on Whiteside.

Whiteside only had 2 fouls in the first half, which was very different from last season, even the first game.

This was something he could exploit.

At this moment, assistant coach Fizdale knocked on the door and came in.

"David, let's do this."

He beckoned Fizdale over and discussed the tactical adjustments for the second half.

Returning from the halftime break, the Heat's lineup had been adjusted, with Shawn Williams replacing Ennis as the starting small forward.

The mood of the fans at the arena was a bit lower than in the first half, after all, they had a 15-minute break.

The Heat attacked first in the second half.

Chalmers passed the ball to Wade, then signaled to create space.

After the space was created, Andersen set a screen at the three-point line.

After the screen, Wade was matched up against Whiteside.

The Flash started with a step and accelerated to the basket, scoring a layup after shaking off Whiteside.

For the Pelicans' offense, Tang Tian shook off Williams and his pull-up jumper went in as well.

Williams was a spacing-type forward, his defensive ability was much weaker than Ennis.

However, Spoelstra didn't seem to care on the sidelines, he just signaled Chalmers to pay attention to help defense.

When the Heat attacked to the frontcourt, Andersen continued to set a screen for Wade outside the three-point line, and Wade continued to mismatch against Whiteside.

Tang Tian was pulled to the far end by Williams, at this time he couldn't help but take a look at Spoelstra.

The tactical intention was very obvious, to target Whiteside, and it was even possible that they were trying to draw fouls on him.

Sure enough, Wade waited for Whiteside before shooting this time after breaking through.

"Bang!"

But what was unexpected was that Whiteside gave Wade another big block!

Cheers and whistles erupted from the crowd.

The Pelicans really didn't want them to rest!

Whiteside got his fifth block of the game and made a "powerful" gesture again.

Focused and precise, he had only practiced defense and controlling fouls during the offseason, which allowed him to improve rapidly in these areas.

As for the foul problems against the Trail Blazers, he was too eager to prove himself.

Wade shook his head after being blocked, his knees were affecting him more and more.

The Heat's sideline pass came in, Wade saw Whiteside chasing after him as he broke through, and passed it back to McRoberts who was following up.

McRoberts caught the ball and shot.

But Whiteside had already turned around, and there was contact in the air between the two.

"Bang!"

Whiteside managed to swat his shot back with his wingspan.

Whiteside's 6th block of the game!

A new career high!

After the block, Ariza grabbed the ball, and the Pelicans launched a fast break.

Tang Tian caught the ball in the frontcourt, took off one step inside the free throw line, squeezed past Chalmers in the air, and slammed the ball into the basket with one hand.

The emotions of the fans at the arena reached their peak again!

Spoelstra stood dumbfounded on the sidelines.

His tactical adjustment had failed. Whiteside's ability to control fouls had obviously become much stronger. Playing so hard was just giving away blocks.

Chalmers' floater in the frontcourt was blocked again by Whiteside. The latter got his 7th block of the game, proving that the Heat's tactical adjustment had completely failed.

But Spoelstra only had so many cards in his hand this season. He became the second clever woman after Carlisle, watching helplessly as the Heat collapsed.

In the end, the Pelicans defeated the defending champion Heat 106 to 84 in their home opener, winning their second straight game since the start of the season.

Wade scored the Heat's highest score of 22 points, but was still unable to turn the tide.

On the Pelicans' side, Davis had 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks, Tang Tian had 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists, and Holiday and Ariza each had 13 points.

Whiteside played valiantly, contributing a triple-double of 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 blocks in this game.

A block triple-double!

He became the first player in Pelicans history to unlock this achievement!

After the game, Whiteside accepted an interview with a sideline reporter on the sidelines.

He looked very excited.

After holding back for an offseason, he finally showed his value.

And this kind of performance was the best response to the media's previous criticism of him.

Tang Tian was chatting with his NCAA buddy Napier at this time. The Heat's Big Three breakup gave the latter a chance.

As a rookie at the end of the first round, he got 22 minutes of playing time in this game, and also got 10 points and 3 assists, a good performance.

Just then, he caught a glimpse of Davis walking towards Whiteside.

He turned his head curiously.

Then he saw Davis sneak up behind Whiteside with a mischievous smile on his face.

And then.

"Smack!"

He slapped Whiteside on the butt.

Whiteside was speaking excitedly, and turned his head suddenly after being slapped.

When he saw that it was Davis, he immediately laughed, and even chatted for a few words.

The two had a good relationship, and Whiteside didn't seem to mind being slapped on the butt at all.

Tang Tian shook his head with a wry smile at this time.

Davis, this guy, has really learned to be bad!

He used to slap him, now he's slapping Whiteside, he's developing in the direction of Ginobili!

But to be honest, this might have something to do with Tang Tian.

If Tang Tian didn't touch his head all day long, he probably wouldn't have thought of slapping someone else's butt.

No, no, the real culprit is Duncan!

After all, Tang Tian likes to touch heads, also wanting to retaliate against Duncan!

It's this old guy, who's about to retire, and still passes on this "bad habit" to others!

Back in the locker room, Whiteside was showered with champagne by his teammates to celebrate.

The atmosphere of the Pelicans this season was even better than last season.

After the game, Tang Tian drove back to his villa.

Before he even entered the door, he heard a howling sound inside, and thought his house had been burglarized.

He went inside and found Little Lion chasing a American Shorthair all over the house.

These two guys were really going crazy while Olsen was away.

But the next scene caught Tang Tian a little off guard.

After Little Lion caught up with the American Shorthair, he directly pressed it to the ground, wanting to do *it*!

He quickly went up to separate the two guys, and at this time he realized that the American Shorthair was panting and trembling, looking very scared.

Obviously, they weren't really playing just now.

Tang Tian looked at Little Lion again with a bit of a headache.

Big brother, you're not just the wrong gender, you're even the wrong species!