D'Antoni called a timeout.

The Pelicans' Big Three had instantly broken the stalemate on the court!

Tang Tian isolation, Walker and Davis pick-and-roll, the Connecticut Big Three!

The Pelicans really had too many tricks, making them impossible to defend against!

Back from the timeout, D'Antoni brought Harden back onto the court early, showing how much he wanted to win tonight.

That was normal, though; everyone wanted to beat the Pelicans this season!

Harden came up and scored against Lamb, providing some relief for the Rockets.

But then Tang Tian went after Harden, and after Gordon came to help, he passed the ball to Lamb in the open spot.

Lamb caught the ball and shot again.

"Swish!"

Another one!

2K magic!

Lamb was playing with his NBA2K skills next to Tang Tian!

That three-pointer was a big blow to the Rockets' morale.

Then, Harden tried to break through and pass, but Gordon mishandled the ball and it went straight out of bounds!

The sidelines were buzzing.

Even though they'd held off the Pelicans for one quarter, there were four quarters in a game!

After five minutes of this quarter, even though Harden had scored 6 points with drives and shots, the score was already 46 to 28!

The difference was up to 18 points!

That was when Stevens made more substitutions.

Walker, Lamb, and Harrell went out, and Brogdon, Butler, and Davis came in!

Brogdon, Tang Tian, Butler, Siakam, and Davis!

Stevens was playing a lineup with one big and four smalls!

Butler didn't give Harden any chances on the outside, and when Harden broke through, Siakam helped on defense, forcing Harden to throw up a long-range shot.

The shot was too difficult, and the ball bounced off the front of the rim!

The Pelicans launched a fast break, and Tang Tian drew a foul from Paul on a layup after receiving a pass from Brogdon.

After making both free throws, the difference was up to 20 points!

D'Antoni rubbed his face.

He really wanted to beat this Pelicans team, even more than last season!

The first quarter had given him hope, and he believed the Rockets had a chance to do it!

But the reality was that hope only lasted for five minutes.

The sidelines were buzzing.

The lineup they believed in the most had collapsed like a building, proving to be worthless.

"Keep it up! Believe in yourselves!"

Buzdelik shouted at the Rockets players on the court.

This season's Pelicans-Rockets battle was completely different from last season's.

Last season, they had a chance and lost narrowly, but this season, they really had no chance at all.

But even if they had no chance, they still had to fight, like when life rapes you, you have to resist.

Someone had to sound the horn of resistance.

Tucker became the one to pass on Buzdelik's horn, shouting at his teammates to boost morale.

The Rockets' morale improved somewhat, and their off-ball movement and pick-and-rolls were excellent.

But… it didn't do any good.

The Pelicans' lineup on the court was too strong on defense.

Brogdon was a seriously underrated perimeter defender, and Siakam had proven his defensive ability.

Plus Davis as the second line of defense, and Tang Tian and Butler as the first line.

It felt like they had to use all their strength just to breathe on the court.

Stevens was showing off his depth, switching from the Big Three to a death defense lineup, a fancy display of skill!

The Rockets' offense was fruitless!

Harden couldn't even break through!

Harden's step-back three-pointer missed, Davis grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Pelicans launched another fast break.

This time, Brogdon received a pass from Tang Tian and made an easy layup.

50 to 28!

The difference was up to 22 points!

Buzdelik was silent this time.

This game really couldn't be played…

If Walker and Davis hadn't been so cold in the first quarter, the Rockets probably wouldn't have been able to hold their own.

He sighed and sat back on the bench.

Speaking of four stars, the Warriors also had four stars last season, but the Pelicans' four stars had zero break-in time and 100% chemistry, which was too cheap!

And the key was that these substitutes weren't weak either!

Counting the Pelicans' roster, five starters, five substitutes, plus Rose, David West, Diaw…

They had more than 12 players who could be pulled out to play.

Really, this was too cheap!

He had never seen anyone play basketball like this!

Paul finally stepped up at a critical moment and hit a signature mid-range shot after a pick-and-roll, adding to the Rockets' score.

But Tang Tian returned the favor, passing behind his back to Butler cutting to the basket, who scored with a two-handed dunk, immediately answering back.

Then Paul missed another mid-range shot.

Butler returned the favor, assisting Tang Tian's catch-and-shoot jumper for another basket.

There was no chance, and there wouldn't be any chance this season.

Stevens showed off his skills in this quarter, and the Pelicans scored a huge 42 to 22 in the quarter.

At the end of the first half, the score was 69 to 44, with the difference up to 25 points.

The game could still be played.

That was the analysis of the home commentator in the commentary box.

A 25-point difference wasn't completely insurmountable in the NBA.

According to him, there were 48 minutes in the game, and only 24 minutes had passed.

"Defense! Defense!"

Back in the second half, the fans at the scene started to cheer for the Rockets under the leadership of the DJ.

"Swish!"

But Walker hit a three-pointer on the outside with a screen from Davis, pouring cold water on them.

After the second quarter, his touch had recovered.

Capela's strong layup after a quick pass from Harden was interfered with by Davis' help defense.

The Houston fans were missing their Cousins a little bit at this moment.

Davis indicated that they didn't need to miss him too much, turning around in the low post and scoring against Tucker with a bank shot.

Davis's state was also recovering!

The home commentator was instantly deflated.

The difference was already 30 points just over a minute into the second half.

What do you mean the game can still be played!

For the Rockets fans, the only comfort was that they were more resilient than the Thunder.

In the later part of this quarter, Harden and Paul played well as a duo, maintaining the 30-point difference until the end of the third quarter.

Although the last quarter became a complete garbage time, at least the score wouldn't get any bigger.

It was also more meaningful for Paul; he had been repeatedly abused by the Spurs and the Pelicans for 58 points when he was with the Clippers, but now that he was with the Rockets, at least there wouldn't be so many points anymore.

Both sides finished the last quarter with all bench players.

Chinese fans were lucky in this quarter, Zhou Qi and Ding Yanyuhang both came on the court, continuing the Chinese derby.

In the end, the Pelicans defeated the Rockets 121 to 91 on the road, welcoming a two-game winning streak to start the season.

On the Rockets' side, Harden scored 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in three quarters, and Paul's 15 points were to no avail.

Zhou Qi played for 12 minutes, but only made 1 of 6 shots, getting 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

On the Pelicans' side, Brogdon had 21 points and 7 assists, Lamb had 17 points, Walker had 14 points and 6 assists, Davis had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks, and Butler had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals.

Ding Yanyuhang got a chance in the last quarter, making 2 of 4 shots for 7 points and 1 rebound.

Tang Tian had a game-high 25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.

He played very easily.

But the bad news was that with consecutive three-quarter performances, it would be difficult for him to average a triple-double like last season!