Tang Tian scored on a fast break layup, taking his personal score to 30 points in the first half and helping the Pelicans extend their lead to 8 points.

On the Rockets' offense, Harden still wasn't giving up. After receiving the ball, he attacked Tang Tian again.

This time, he demonstrated his superstar ability with a step-back jumper after a breakthrough, shooting the ball over Tang Tian's defense.

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Finally, Harden had scored against Tang Tian's defense!

However, Harden's expression remained grim.

Tang Tian's defense was still airtight on that last play. He was only able to score with a good deal of luck.

More importantly than scoring a basket, he realized after several possessions that Tang Tian's stamina was seemingly endless.

In other words, their entire game plan had failed!

Had Tang Tian suddenly become a stamina monster overnight?

That was impossible and unscientific!

The only explanation was that Tang Tian's stamina consumption was minimal unless he was being directly attacked!

As for off-ball movement, Tang Tian was an expert during his time with the Spurs, capable of running Durant into the ground!

On the Rockets' offense, Harden didn't gesture for the ball, but Paul still signaled his teammates to spread out before passing it to him.

Paul didn't know what Harden was thinking at this moment. He was executing the tactics decided upon by the team during the mid-game timeout.

Besides, Harden had just scored a basket.

Harden glanced at his teammates' defensive positioning, and Paul's movement to pull his defender to the far end after passing the ball.

He was being forced to attack.

He held the ball, looked at Tang Tian, and took a deep breath.

He needed to believe in himself. Even if Tang Tian's stamina was full, and even if his efficiency against Tang Tian was extremely low, he had still managed to score one basket.

Where there was one, there would be another.

With that thought, he accelerated with a crossover, continuing to drive inside against Tang Tian.

He was going to repeat the same trick.

The two came to the basket during the physical contest, and Harden seized the opportunity to retreat.

His signature step-back.

"Pa!"

But at the moment of the step-back, he felt a lightness in his hand.

The ball, stolen by Tang Tian again!

The same trick didn't work on Tang Tian!

Moreover, it had been successfully predicted!

After the steal, Tang Tian passed the ball to Holiday, who seized the opportunity this time and successfully made a layup.

The Pelicans extended their lead to double digits!

D'Antoni reached out and called a timeout.

His expression was unsightly.

They had only scored one basket in three possessions. Their tactics, which had spanned the entire game, had failed to work!

Harden had to take the blame for this. He had proposed the tactics, but he couldn't score!

At this moment, the Led screen in the arena showed Tang Tian's stats for the game.

30 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, and 8 steals!

A near quadruple-double!

At the end of the third quarter, Tang Tian only had 5 steals, but in the short two minutes or so just now, he had gotten 3 steals in a row!

At this moment, the fans in the arena were inexplicably excited.

Tang Tian only needed 1 more rebound and 2 more steals to achieve a quadruple-double!

A quadruple-double!

There were many players in NBA history who had achieved a near quadruple-double, but only 5 players had ever achieved a quadruple-double!

And only Oscar Robertson had ever achieved a quadruple-double with steals!

Although they were opponents, being able to witness history was enough to excite them.

After the timeout, Cousins' post play created a distraction, Harden made an off-ball cut to receive the ball, and hit a three-pointer over Tang Tian's defense despite not being able to see the rim.

Although Tang Tian's defense had given him some trouble, he was feeling hot tonight.

The Pelicans ran a successful offensive play, but Ariza missed his shot.

Cousins grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Rockets ran a fast break. Paul's layup was fouled by Holiday.

After making both free throws, the Rockets had gone on a 5-0 run since the timeout, narrowing the point difference back to 5 points.

The cheers in the arena were continuous. The overall strength of this Rockets team was truly strong.

Tang Tian's drive and dish up front, Holiday's open look from outside, but the basketball hit the rim and bounced out.

The Pelicans' overall touch had become a little lost during this stretch.

Stevens had already walked from the bench to the sidelines. If the Rockets scored again, he would have to call a timeout.

Cousins continued to play one-on-one inside, and after being double-teamed, he passed the ball to Morris in the corner.

To use Wei Ping Tang's words, this was a very standard inside-out tactic.

"Pa!"

However, the ball didn't reach Morris's hands. A figure came over from the weak side, and as his body came to a stop on the baseline, he stole the ball in one fell swoop.

Tang Tian!

Tang Tian had predicted Cousins' passing choice and successfully stolen the ball!

His 9th steal of the game!

The fans in the arena couldn't believe it. In this quarter alone, Tang Tian had already dished out 4 steals!

D'Antoni also turned his head to look at Buzdelik with a dark face.

Didn't you say that Tang Tian would have problems with his stamina in the fourth quarter?

What problems? Tang Tian was still full of energy on the court!

On the contrary, after other people's stamina went down, their tactical cooperation was a little slow, and Tang Tian seized the opportunity to steal the ball repeatedly!

After Tang Tian's successful steal, he directly passed it to Holiday up front, and Holiday rushed to the front court and directly dunked the ball into the basket.

Tang Tian had a blast stealing in the fourth quarter, and he also had a blast dunking!

With only 2 minutes left in the game, and a 7-point difference, the situation was not good for the Rockets.

"Let's.go!rockets!"

The fans in the arena cheered for their home team in unison.

Harden held the ball in the frontcourt facing Tang Tian. Paul signaled him to attack from the far end, and Cousins cut to the basket after setting a screen for Morris.

The previous consecutive misses made him a little hesitant. He wanted to pass and shoot at the same time.

Just as he was still observing, Tang Tian suddenly took the initiative and grabbed the ball in his hand.

This came very suddenly, and Harden was completely caught off guard. Moreover, he didn't use all his strength when grabbing the ball because he was hesitating.

By the time he reacted, Tang Tian had already snatched the ball from his hand!

The crowd was in an uproar.

After reacting, Harden fouled in advance, stopping another fast break from the Pelicans.

But the Rockets had already reached the foul limit, and this foul sent Tang Tian to the free throw line directly.

D'Antoni was a little dissatisfied at this time, and spread his hands and looked at Harden with a puzzled look.

Harden himself proposed the tactics, but in the end, the ball was snatched from his hand!

Tang Tian made both free throws, and the Pelicans reopened the point difference to 9 points!

With more than a minute left, they had already pocketed half of the victory.

But in the next possession, Harden made up for his mistake, using Cousins' screen and Paul's pass to quickly hit a three-pointer, narrowing the point difference back to 6 points.

6 points in 1 minute, the Rockets still had hope.

You should know that Tracy McGrady, who was sitting in the commentary box at this time, had completed the feat of scoring 13 points in 35 seconds during his time with the Rockets.

Now there were 25 seconds more than 35 seconds.

"Defense! Defense!"

The shouts in the arena were loud. The Rockets would still have a chance as long as they defended this possession!