Chapter 3 The Tables Turn

That night, the Oracle Arena was packed.

Although trailing 0-2 wasn't an ideal situation, the Bay Area fans' support for the Warriors hadn't waned.

They were hoping the Warriors could break the Pelicans' undefeated streak at home and reverse the unfavorable situation in the series.

It was worth mentioning that Adam Silver, who hadn't dared to show his face before, also appeared in the VIP box.

His appearance was sudden and added a touch of uncertainty to the game.

But for the Bay Area fans, when the camera focused on Silver, the expression in their eyes was more of excitement.

They knew that Silver had always been a strong supporter of the Warriors.

In such a crucial game, he was their "tonic."

Tang Tian frowned when he saw Silver, then smiled.

Silver really couldn't sit still anymore, but being able to make him completely despair in front of him was also a very interesting thing.

After the opening ceremony, the two teams' starting lineups took the court one after another.

Both sides used the same starting lineups as the previous two games.

Davis tipped the ball back to the Pelicans' half, officially kicking off Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.

Tang Tian came up, holding the ball and breaking through, jumping for a layup, but Durant provided help defense from the weak side.

He twisted and turned in the air, pulling the ball to his waist, and squeezed the ball through the gap to Davis cutting in on the right side.

Davis caught the ball, took a step, and slammed it in with both hands, scoring the first points for the Pelicans.

For the Warriors' offense, Durant and Thompson spread out on the wings, Iguodala posted up in the low post, and Curry passed the ball inside.

Kerr had made a tactical adjustment, with the team's superstars giving up the ball to allow Iguodala to force his way through Walker.

Walker couldn't hold on after a few tries, and Iguodala turned around and forced his way through Walker, laying the ball in after the contact to score the first points for the Warriors.

Kerr's tactical adjustment was very effective.

Stevens got up and went to the sideline, shouting a few words to Walker and Dedmon.

The Pelicans advanced to the frontcourt, and Tang Tian's sudden stop jump shot after the breakthrough added to the team's score.

Back on the other end, the Warriors repeated the same trick.

But this time Walker chose to defend by going around in front.

Moreover, Dedmon's defensive position was also very different from the previous round; he stood at the free-throw line, a position from which he could help defend the basket at any time.

Curry passed the ball to Green, but Dedmon's defensive position was too far inside, giving Green a three-point opportunity.

Green caught the ball, glanced at the basket, and then dribbled with his back to the basket.

He didn't dare to shoot; in the past two years, his trash-talking skills had continued to improve, but his three-point shooting ability had continued to decline.

Compared to shooting, he now preferred to organize the offense from the arc.

Curry ran over and caught the ball again to shoot a three-pointer.

But Tang Tian went around the defense and pounced to interfere.

"Clang!"

Curry's three-pointer hit the rim and bounced out.

Dedmon rebounded and protected the defensive rebound, and the Warriors' offense failed.

Walker held the ball and advanced to the frontcourt, and played a pick-and-roll with Davis, drawing a defensive foul from Durant on the layup.

He made both free throws steadily, bringing the score to 6-2.

The Pelicans had scored in three consecutive possessions.

Although they had moved from New Orleans to Oakland, the team's form was still hot.

Curry dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and still wanted to pass the ball to Iguodala, but Walker continued to go around in front, and Dedmon continued to stand at the free-throw line.

After two consecutive attempts failed, Curry had to give up.

Stevens' response was too quick; Kerr's tactical adjustment only worked once before being forced to abandon it.

The game returned to the rhythm of the past two games.

But the good news was that Durant's form in this game was better than in the previous two.

After the first quarter, the score was 33-22, with the Pelicans leading.

This score was acceptable to the fans at the scene, after all, this was already the smallest point difference in the first quarter of the series.

In the second quarter, Kerr used normal rotation, with Green and Thompson leading the team on the court.

However, on the Pelicans' side, Stevens made another adjustment, letting Tang Tian lead four substitutes alone.

Rose, Brogdon, Siakam, and Harrell.

His adjustment wasn't without reason.

The Pelicans' entire team had a smooth offense in the first quarter, and Tang Tian didn't attack many times.

In terms of physical fitness, he was still very energetic.

Stevens knew that after Tang Tian said those words, sweeping the Warriors was a must, with absolutely no reservations.

On the first attack back in the second quarter, Tang Tian dribbled past Thompson with a butterfly step, accelerated, and then slammed the ball into the basket over Green, who was helping defend.

The Pelicans' bench erupted, and the Oracle Arena was in turmoil.

Tang Tian's playing now was really brutal.

Green was unhappy after being dunked on, but after seeing that it was Tang Tian, he felt a chill down his spine and didn't dare to say anything.

Thompson's catch-and-shoot three-pointer was interfered with by Tang Tian.

The Pelicans launched a fast break, and Tang Tian made a long pass to Rose in the backcourt, who scored another 2 points with a flying layup.

Thompson was defended to death by Tang Tian and had no chance to catch the ball. Livingston posted up Rose in the low post, but his signature turn-around fadeaway was also interfered with by Tang Tian's help defense and missed.

Back on the other end, Tang Tian broke into the paint and scored again despite McGee's help defense.

39 to 22.

The Pelicans launched a 6-0 run at the start of the second quarter, extending the lead to 17 points.

Stevens' judgment was really accurate; Tang Tian was full of energy, and he completely dominated both ends of the court during this period.

Kerr was forced to call a timeout.

"Draymond, do what you're supposed to do!"

After the timeout, Kerr roared at Green.

It seemed that he was very dissatisfied with Green's performance tonight.

The Warriors' players looked at each other, it was the first time they had seen Kerr get so angry with Green in person.

But after Kerr roared, he exchanged glances with Green, and Green nodded silently.

These words had a double meaning.

After the timeout, the Warriors made a substitution, with Durant replacing Thompson.

Durant continued his excellent form tonight, coming up with a turnaround jump shot to break the Warriors' scoring drought.

With a 15-point difference, the two sides still had a chance to fight.

Tang Tian continued to hold the ball in the frontcourt, and this time the person defending him had changed from Thompson to Livingston.

But his offensive strategy remained unchanged; a butterfly step that brought him closer and then further away directly knocked Livingston to the ground.

Amid the uproar from the fans at the scene, he broke into the paint, and after seeing Green helping defend, he soared into the air, preparing to dunk again.

But not long after jumping up, he felt something rushing towards his eyes.

Because it happened suddenly, he only had time to turn his head slightly, and he only felt a pain in the corner of his eye, followed by a burning pain in his right eye.

"Bang!"

But with his eyes closed, he still slammed the ball into the basket.

The Pelicans' bench erupted.

This was already Tang Tian's second dunk on Green in this game!

Really, if you dare to come, I dare to dunk you so hard your own mother wouldn't recognize you.

But Stevens ran to the technical table and called a timeout, and waved vigorously to the team doctor behind him, signaling him to come on the court.

He saw Tang Tian covering his eyes with his right hand after landing from the dunk, squatting there for a long time without getting up.