The Cavaliers' offense, Irving's drive past Holiday to the basket, missed.

Tang Tian judged the landing point to grab the defensive rebound, but Whiteside grabbed the offensive rebound before him and put the ball into the basket.

After losing weight, Whiteside has both flexibility and confrontation, and his performance is quite eye-catching.

Back on the other end, in the Pelicans' offense, Tang Tian attacked Love again, and sent the ball into the basket after confronting Whiteside before the double-team arrived.

4 to 4.

Both teams scored on all of their first few possessions after the opening.

Although the officiating standard has changed, the state of the two teams tonight is heading for an offensive battle.

Halfway through the first quarter, the score on the court was 20 to 15, with the Pelicans leading.

On the Cavaliers' side, Whiteside performed well and scored 8 points.

On the Pelicans' side, Tang Tian also scored 8 points, but also had 2 rebounds and 4 assists!

One of the 4 assists was a three-pointer. Subtracting the two free throws, 17 of the 20 points the Pelicans scored were related to Tang Tian!

The Pelicans didn't play any complicated tactics on the court. The core idea was for the players to spread out, and then Tang Tian would attack himself, or make simple pick-and-roll passes for assists.

In other words, Tang Tian's usage rate after the opening reached 100%!

"Brad."

On the bench, Gentry couldn't help but turn his head to look at Stevens.

The tactics the Pelicans are playing on the court tonight are not quite the same as what they arranged before the game.

"I know."

Stevens, of course, could see it too.

But he didn't say anything after nodding.

He is strict in training, but knows how to be flexible.

This can be seen from the way he gets along with Tang Tian.

He had seen all of Whiteside's remarks and media reports, so he wasn't completely unprepared for the players' actions tonight.

Not every night has to strictly follow the coaching staff's requirements. After all, the season is so long, and he is not a coach who needs to establish his authority by this.

Of course, the most important thing is that the Pelicans are leading the Cavaliers with such a simple game.

Tang Tian's personal ability, coupled with his three or four years of tacit understanding with these starting teammates, makes him look very terrifying.

At the end of the first quarter, the score on the court was 33 to 30, and the Pelicans still maintained a 3-point lead.

The last time the two teams played in the season opener, the Pelicans took a double-digit lead in the first quarter, led by 14 points in the first half, and collapsed the Cavaliers in the third quarter.

But the point difference in one quarter now shows that the Cavaliers' strength is indeed much better than at the beginning of the season.

In the opening stage of the second quarter, most of the main players on both sides were resting off the court.

Whiteside was constantly communicating with an assistant coach beside him.

He didn't ask about the team's tactics anymore, nor did he ask about the areas where he didn't perform well, but he was asking about Tang Tian's stats.

"10 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists."

Hearing the assistant coach's answer, he frowned.

He was frantically fighting for rebounds, and he grabbed 5 rebounds in this quarter alone! 3 of them were offensive rebounds!

Not only rebounds, but he was also working hard to prevent Tang Tian from scoring and assisting.

He has only one purpose in doing this, not to let Tang Tian complete a triple-double!

He was slapped in the face in the season opener, and he didn't want to be slapped in the face again now.

He wants to show off successfully once, he wants to tell the world that the Pelicans and Tang Tian made the wrong choice!

He is a better center than Jokic, he is the best center in the league!

But now, Tang Tian has such data in this quarter, and he is likely to get another triple-double!

In the second quarter, the two teams were still playing inextricably.

When five minutes of this quarter had passed, the main players of both sides returned one after another, and the score on the court was 41 to 37.

James's layup on a drive caused Jokic to foul, and after two free throws, the point difference was only 2 points, a one-possession game.

"Defense! Defense!"

This kind of stalemate made the Cleveland fans feel excited, and the shouts and cheers at the scene were overwhelming.

Holiday dribbled to the frontcourt and continued to give the ball to Tang Tian. They were determined to get Tang Tian to pad his stats tonight.

Tang Tian still looked for a pick-and-roll to attack Love. Love couldn't keep up, and Tang Tian successfully killed to the basket.

Whiteside pounced over with red eyes, he wanted to stop Tang Tian!

Tang Tian's momentum didn't diminish, and the two had physical contact, and Tang Tian couldn't get up.

But he didn't seem to want to get up either. In the instant after the contact, he passed the ball from close range from Whiteside's waist to Jokic under the basket.

Jokic took the ball and easily scored a layup.

Tang Tian's 6th assist of the game!

Whiteside clapped his hands angrily after seeing the goal.

Tang Tian suddenly wanted to laugh when he saw his expression.

This guy's brain is really not good, he probably only has him in his eyes at this moment.

James came over and patted Whiteside on the shoulder, reminding him to just stand under the basket and protect the rim.

Irving's turnaround fadeaway over Holiday hit.

The Cavaliers' style of play is getting simpler and simpler, but it is also getting more and more effective.

Still a 2-point difference, the situation on the court is still anxious.

Holiday passed the ball to Tang Tian after half-court, this is really a 100% usage rate.

Tang Tian is also simple, continue to look for Love.

Love stood his ground this time, but he was still squeezed past after a confrontation with Tang Tian.

James came to help defend from the weak side, and Whiteside shrank towards the basket.

This ball is blocked from the front and back, and the chance of defending it is very high.

Whiteside boxed out Jokic, and was already prepared to protect the defensive rebound after a successful defense.

At least, Tang Tian can't get any more rebounds.

But at the instant he thought so, Tang Tian suddenly accelerated again.

This second acceleration was caught off guard. James didn't have time to help defend, and Whiteside's hand hadn't been raised yet, and with the lesson from the previous ball, half of his attention was on Jokic.

It was at this moment that Tang Tian took a step into the restricted area and jumped up.

"Bang!"

He slammed the ball into the basket over Whiteside, who hadn't stretched out his hand yet!

After the game against the Jazz before, he said humorously that the reason he was able to make a putback dunk was because Hill was not Cousins, and the guards were not big guys.

But this time, he dunked the ball in over Whiteside!

You really can't trust what Tang Tian says!

The fans at the scene were dumbfounded.

Forbes grabbed a towel and jumped to the sidelines, waving it wildly.

Whiteside was pushed out of the court. When he saw Tang Tian hanging on the basket, his mind went blank and he was about to rush up.

But Jokic was quick-witted at this time and directly blocked him in front of him, and the referee also stopped his next move in time.

For this ball, this background board, the outcome of the game is still unknown, and whether Tang Tian's triple-double can continue is still unknown, but his face has already been completely lost!

After Tang Tian landed, he glanced at Whiteside, and no emotion could be seen in his eyes at all.

He is very good to most people, but he will not show mercy to ungrateful people.

This ball became the epitome of the second quarter. Tang Tian was in hot form, leading the Pelicans to a 57-46 lead at halftime.

He scored 16 points in this quarter, 26 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals in the first half, already a double-double in the first half!

Whiteside tried his best to stop Tang Tian from getting stats, but Tang Tian was unstoppable after his back injury recovered.

He wants to pad his stats, Whiteside can't stop him, no one can stop him!