These two lost their minds?

Tang Tian didn't know why scoring the opening basket would be so exciting, even though it was a dunk.

But this inexplicable excitement was very helpful for the Pelicans, at least the box-out was well done.

Griffin dribbled to the frontcourt and posted up, while the Clippers' perimeter ran their plays.

This was a typical inside-outside combination tactic.

However, the Pelicans defended perfectly. Like the previous possession, the Clippers' perimeter didn't get a chance to shoot.

Seeing this, Griffin could only continue to force it. At this moment, in the low post, Jokic's help defense came quickly.

The inside space was too small, and Griffin had no passing angle. He chose to turn around and hook from the baseline.

However, his arms were short, and Jokic directly touched the ball when it was released.

The ball's trajectory changed, hitting the right edge of the rim and bouncing out.

Aminu originally wanted to grab the rebound directly, but seeing Tang Tian on the fast break, he turned to box out Jordan, and Jokic also boxed out Griffin.

Tang Tian rushed into the paint and grabbed a defensive rebound with a stretch of his hand.

Tang Tian was stunned when he got the rebound.

This feeling was so familiar!

During Christmas the past two years, after he gave out gifts, Whiteside and Ariza collectively transformed into box-out machines, giving up rebounds.

Now this scene, history repeated itself!

He also understood the original intention of Jokic and Aminu's box-out in the previous possession. They were helping him pad his stats!

He reacted quickly, but he didn't understand why, since it wasn't Christmas yet this year.

If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't bother thinking about it. Moreover, this approach seemed to help the team, so he didn't bother thinking about it.

The Pelicans attacked in the frontcourt, Tang Tian holding the ball, Ariza and Aminu setting up screens on his left and right sides.

Tang Tian cut to the basket using the screen, and Griffin's help defense was also blocked by Jokic.

After a series of screens, Tang Tian killed into the free throw line area, and only Jordan was left under the basket.

He made a close-range pull-up jumper, and just as Jordan was about to jump, he was blocked by Holiday, who rushed over.

A timing difference.

"Swish!"

Tang Tian's close-range pull-up went in again!

He scored 2 consecutive goals, and the Pelicans took a 4-2 lead.

Tang Tian was a little dumbfounded. The Pelicans had transformed into a team of box-out machines!

Redick's catch-and-shoot three-pointer was disturbed by Tang Tian and missed, and Jokic grabbed the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans launched a counterattack.

Holiday dribbled past Beverley, and Tang Tian also rushed forward.

A 2-on-0 fast break in the frontcourt, Holiday had a chance but didn't take it, directly passing the ball to Tang Tian, who jumped up and scored with a one-handed dunk.

He scored 6 points in a row at the start!

Stevens shook his head on the bench.

He wasn't stupid, and he immediately saw what the other Pelicans were doing. They were openly helping Tang Tian score points.

If he remembered correctly, Tang Tian had padded his stats to 72 points two years ago.

Originally, as a coach, he wouldn't allow this kind of thing.

But like Tang Tian thought, the team had a favorable situation on the court, and the players were indeed implementing his pre-match tactical arrangements, playing more of the No. 1 tactic.

So he turned a blind eye to it.

"Don't give him any more shooting opportunities, focus all your attention on Tang!"

Stevens understood, and Rivers also understood.

He roared at his players at this moment.

Stevens, the Pelicans were using the Clippers as a scoring target?!

How much did they look down on people!

Although the Clippers didn't have Paul, they were still a top-eight team in the West, and it was a bit insulting to play like this!

Griffin forced a shot against Aminu in the frontcourt, drawing a shooting foul, and made one of two free throws to help the Clippers continue to score.

Stevens' defensive arrangement intentions in this game were also somewhat obvious, which was to let Griffin play one-on-one, give appropriate interference, and cut off his connection with other people.

The Pelicans continued to play the No. 1 tactic in the frontcourt, and Tang Tian was double-teamed as soon as he held the ball.

Under Rivers, the team's tactical execution was also very high.

Tang Tian flicked the ball to Ariza.

Ariza caught the ball and saw Redick's help defense coming over, shook it, and killed into the inside.

Jokic also worked hard to box out Jordan at this time, and Ariza scored 2 points with a flying layup.

After the ball went in, Ariza and Jokic slapped each other, just like Aminu and Jokic did before.

Just now they were, earning Tang Tian an assist...

Rivers was very angry, but Pierce's mid-range shot was disturbed by Ariza and missed.

The Pelicans' tactical execution was also not weak.

Griffin could score, but everyone else was cutting off and suppressing.

As the game progressed, the home fans belatedly discovered the Pelicans players' intentions and started booing along.

Poor Clippers, without Paul, their offensive strength declined significantly. Coupled with Stevens' tactical targeting, their offense was quite constipated.

The result was that as Tang Tian's various stats rose, the point difference between the two sides continued to widen.

At the end of the half, the Pelicans led the Clippers by 15 points with a score of 50-35, and Tang Tian's personal stats had reached 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists.

A near triple-double in the first half.

Rivers was furious, this was blatant humiliation!

But in the face of a gap in strength, getting angry only hurt his liver.

In the third quarter, the Pelicans also started their daily wave, once pulling the score to more than 20 points.

Moreover, after three quarters, Tang Tian's personal stats had reached 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Just as Tang Tian was about to punch out in three quarters, Lou Williams on the opposite side showed his power, scoring a wave of 8-0 personally, and abruptly brought the suspense of the game back.

The best sixth man after Jamal Crawford, this nickname was well-deserved.

With the unfavorable situation, Stevens put Tang Tian on the court at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

As a result, he not only locked down Williams, pulling the score back to more than 20 points, but also incidentally raised his stats again.

In the end, the Pelicans easily defeated the Clippers at home with a score of 103-88, extending their winning streak to 21 games.

Of course, what made the fans even happier than winning the game was that Tang Tian got a triple-double of 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists in this game, and also contributed 2 steals and 2 blocks.

This time, the triple-double didn't have the word "near" in front of it, and the stats were quite gorgeous.

Being able to win the game and get a triple-double, this script was simply perfect.

It was just that Rivers and Griffin on the opposite side were a bit autistic.

The team coached by Rivers was treated as an experience pack, and he had no place to vent his anger; while the latter scored 35 points and 11 rebounds, getting the stats but not winning the game.

The opponents on the court, the coaches on both sides, and even the home fans could see that the Pelicans were helping Tang Tian get the stats, but other fans didn't know.

On social media after the game, there were endless discussions about Tang Tian's triple-double.

Except for a very few users like the Godfather's fans who were complaining about padding stats, most people were praising Tang Tian.

It should be known that the opponent was a top-eight team in the West, the Clippers coached by championship coach Rivers.

Moreover, this was Tang Tian's first triple-double of the season, and after narrowly missing a 50+ triple-double in the previous game, this was a lot of compensation.