The game was about to begin, and the live broadcast promptly gave split-screen shots of James and Tang Tian.

It was at this moment that Durant butted in.

He stood diagonally behind James, with a very serious expression.

The fans' discussions after the All-Star game had disgusted him.

He had rarely retorted that time, and he was holding back his energy for this game.

What he wanted to do was prove that he hadn't defected, but was as determined as when he first came to Los Angeles, only wanting to defeat Tang Tian.

Amidst the cheers of the fans, Gasol tipped the ball back to the Pelicans' half, officially kicking off the game.

The two teams had played against each other twice before, and were familiar with each other's tactics and teamwork.

After the opening, the game quickly fell into a tense state.

Tang Tian's touch wasn't great tonight, so he focused more on driving to the basket and passing out to open teammates.

Davis and Green both played consistently, and the Pelicans' offense didn't have any major problems.

However, Durant's offensive desire was particularly strong tonight, combining drives and shots in a rational and efficient manner.

And when facing Tang Tian's defense, he also used his offense to create space.

After the Warriors experience, his personality had really changed quite a bit.

Faced with doubts, he chose to prove himself!

Neither side could stop the other, and when the quarter reached about 9 minutes, the two sides were tied at 25.

Both sides began to make substitutions.

For the Pelicans, Brogdon and Gasol remained in the starting lineup, while Alexander, Jeff Green, and Siakam were substituted in.

For the Lakers, Wade, Pope, and McGee also entered the game in succession.

Pope came up and hit a three-pointer, helping the Lakers regain the lead.

His performance in the previous two games had been poor, and tonight was his redemption.

However, on the Pelicans' side, Green received a pass from Gasol, attacked the basket, and drew a foul on McGee for an and-one.

The atmosphere at the scene was instantly ignited.

Kuzma's injury gave Anthony the opportunity to enter the 12-man roster, but it was Green who actually got the chance to play.

Although he also had few opportunities, Green's attitude was completely different from Crowder's.

Instead of complaining, he chose to train harder, and this training gave him a return.

After making the free throw, he helped the Pelicans tie the score.

And in the next possession, he successfully defended James's drive to the basket, and followed up with a fast-break dunk.

With one offensive and one defensive play, he scored 5 consecutive points, showing extremely good competitive form.

In the stretch between the first and second quarters, the two teams were deadlocked again.

Although Vogel didn't let James rest much, the Pelicans' substitutes performed well, and the Lakers failed to take advantage of this period to widen the score as they had hoped.

This performance also caused Breen and Miller in the commentary booth to sigh with emotion.

The Pelicans had experienced a major lineup change this season. Not only Walker and Butler, but also Rose, Lamb, Bojan, and even Dedmon had left the team one after another.

These were all core rotation players for the Pelicans last season.

But as the season progressed, the Pelicans patched things up, and their rotation lineup strength returned.

This made people marvel at the magic of this Pelicans team, and also made people praise Stevens' ability.

With just over 4 minutes left in the second quarter, the score on the court was tied at 40.

The fans at the scene were nervous and excited.

The two teams were evenly matched, and this level of competition wasn't something you could see every night.

If they continued at this pace, the two teams would likely have to fight to the last moment to determine the winner.

With the substitutes deadlocked, both teams successively switched their starters back in.

It was after this that the situation on the court changed.

The reason for this change was the decline in the Pelicans' outside shooting touch.

Green and Brogdon missed consecutive shots from the outside, and the Lakers seized the opportunity to launch consecutive fast breaks.

Stevens reacted quickly, replacing Gasol with Siakam again to increase the team's speed in transition defense.

But the problem of the Pelicans' declining outside touch couldn't be solved.

Tang Tian could only play more pick-and-roll tactics with Davis in a small area, or rely on his own one-on-one play with the ball.

But his touch tonight really wasn't very good.

Shi Fo's (Stone Buddha) skill gave him a performance floor, and tonight his touch just happened to hit that floor.

With the entire Pelicans team off from the outside, the Lakers also became more and more constricted on defense.

And Durant's offensive firepower didn't diminish.

The Lakers took the opportunity to gradually widen the score.

At the end of the first half, the score on the court was 63 to 51.

The Lakers finished the first half with a 12-point lead.

Durant played bravely, scoring 24 points in the half, and was the biggest contributor to the Lakers' lead.

Just like the expression on his face when he accidentally intruded at the beginning of the game, he was really holding back his energy to prove himself.

Tang Tian also scored 24 points in the half, but he only made 9 of 20 shots.

A 45% shooting percentage wasn't bad for an outside player.

But for Tang Tian, compared to his performance this season, this couldn't even be considered just scoring 24 points in the half, but was really a poor performance.

At the end of the first half, the players from both teams returned to the locker room to rest one after another.

As soon as Durant went back, he took out his mobile phone to look at social media.

"Is this the traitor you guys are talking about? Durant is the Lakers' hero!"

"That's right, look at Durant's desire to win, even the Emperor has to stand aside, he is the Lakers' core!"

"The Lakers can lead by so much, Durant really deserves the credit, he really hasn't betrayed!"

"Durant is really a little handsome tonight!"

……

Looking at the comments on social media, Durant felt much more comfortable.

The Pelicans' locker room.

Stevens was making tactical adjustments for the second half.

The players were all listening carefully.

After the arrangements were almost made, Stevens and Nash returned to the office first.

Tang Tian got up and walked to Brogdon's side, preparing to pat him on the head.

If the Pelicans wanted to counterattack in the second half, they had to open up their outside shooting touch, and he had to improve the team's outside performance as much as possible.

However, Brogdon reacted quickly and dodged.

"Boss, what are you doing?"

Brogdon wasn't Kuzma, and didn't understand the benefits of being patted on the head yet.

"Come here, let me pat your head."

Tang Tian said very directly.

"Boss, I don't think this is a good idea?"

Brogdon had seen Tang Tian patting people's heads on the team quite a bit, he… still cherished his hair very much.

"I don't want you to think, I want me to think, come here."

Tang Tian directly started the Mingxue (a form of domineering leadership) education mode.

Brogdon had no choice. Tang Tian was the boss of the team, and he was so tough right now, so he could only brace himself and come over.

Tang Tian reached out and patted him on the head.

Seeing the aggrieved look on his face, he smiled and said, "This is for your own good."

Hearing what Tang Tian said, Brogdon felt even more aggrieved.

"Boss, I know you have a special hobby, but if there really is a benefit, why don't you pat your own head?"

Brogdon said with a bitter face.

He was really forced.

However, after Brogdon finished speaking, Tang Tian's eyes lit up.