Chapter 1 The Curtain Opens

After the warm-up, the opening ceremony began, and the starting lineups of both teams were announced one after another.

The Pelicans' side was their usual starting five.

For the Warriors, Kerr sent out a small-ball lineup: the Splash Brothers on the perimeter, Iguodala and Durant on the wings, and Green at center.

This wasn't Kerr pulling out a big move early; Dedmon was a 3-D center, and he didn't dare use a bigger lineup.

Moreover, the team's big men had been beaten too badly by Embiid in the previous round, and their condition was also a problem.

"Tang, AD, pay attention to the pick-and-roll between Curry and Durant."

Before taking the court, Stevens specifically told Tang Tian and Davis.

Kerr used the Durant-Curry pick-and-roll more this season, and Stevens had made targeted defensive arrangements.

After the final pre-match arrangements were made, the starting players from both teams took the court one after another.

Tang Tian threw magnesium powder as usual, igniting the atmosphere at the start.

Davis tipped the ball back into the Pelicans' half, officially kicking off the fourth season of the Pelicans-Warriors rivalry.

Walker dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and passed it directly to Tang Tian.

Facing an opponent of the Warriors' caliber, there was no need for any probing. The Pelicans went all out from the start.

Tang Tian used the Chuanhua Butterfly Step (穿花蝴蝶步) to get past Thompson with a triple threat, and seeing Iguodala come to help defend, he made a no-look bounce pass.

Butler appeared at the right time, caught the ball, and made a flying layup.

The Pelicans' offensive flow was smooth and flowing, perfectly showcasing Tang Tian's personal ability and the tacit understanding between the brothers forged through hard training, as pleasing to the eye as mercury flowing to the ground.

A cheer erupted from the crowd.

From this small glimpse, it could be seen that the Pelicans were feeling very good on the offensive end tonight.

Curry dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and the Pelicans played man-to-man defense.

Tang Tian guarded Curry, Butler guarded Thompson, Walker guarded Iguodala, Davis guarded Durant, and Dedmon guarded Green.

This was a targeted man-to-man defense, focusing on the fact that Iguodala didn't have much independent offensive ability at the moment.

Curry gestured for a tactic, and after Iguodala ran outwards, he suddenly cut back towards the basket.

This was exploiting Walker's lack of height on defense.

However, the Pelicans' choice was to switch directly, with Dedmon shrinking to the basket and Walker matched up against Green.

Green wasn't a threat from mid-range, and he squeezed into the basket, reaching out for the ball.

Curry wanted to pass it, but Tang Tian delayed him, and the Pelicans' weak-side help defense rotated, with Butler already switching to the basket.

The Warriors' tactical intentions were completely disrupted.

With little time left on the shot clock, Curry took a long three-pointer off an Iguodala screen.

But Iguodala didn't block Tang Tian, and Curry's shot was severely interfered with by Tang Tian. The ball was obviously short, hitting the front of the rim and bouncing out.

The defensive rebound was secured by Butler, and the Warriors' first offense ended without success!

"I take back what I said earlier, this will be the most exciting game of the year."

Kenny Smith only watched this possession before retracting what he had said while commentating on the Trail Blazers game.

Commentators were the most professional ball experts.

In just a few seconds of a simple possession, you could see the extremely high tactical level and execution of both teams.

You could also see how much they valued each other, and how thorough their pre-game research and preparation were.

From the coaching staff to the players on the court, this was truly a battle between super teams!

Before Kenny Smith finished speaking, the Pelicans immediately launched a fast break.

The Warriors reacted quickly, with Curry and Thompson both retreating well.

But as they retreated to the backcourt, Tang Tian received a pass from Walker, used the Chuanhua Butterfly Step (穿花蝴蝶步) to squeeze past Curry, and jumped up for a one-handed tomahawk dunk.

Curry, still retreating after being squeezed past, directly became the backdrop for Tang Tian's dunk.

*Boom!*

The ball was heavily slammed into the basket.

Curry was also knocked out of bounds.

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Fans on the hotline felt a pang of sympathy.

Golden State LaVine became obsessed with dunks after the All-Star Game, but he spent more time on the court as a backdrop like this.

4-0, the Pelicans drew first blood.

The Warriors ran a play on offense, but the Pelicans' defense was very high quality, and Thompson and Iguodala on the weak side couldn't get any open looks at all.

Curry finally chose to screen with Durant, but they switched after the screen, and Durant had even less of a chance against Tang Tian.

Curry chose to change direction and break through against Davis, but Davis was very agile, staying with him all the way to the basket to provide interference. Curry's reverse layup didn't go in.

Davis smoothly secured the defensive rebound, and the Warriors' offense failed again!

However, this time they retreated quickly, not giving the Pelicans another chance to launch a fast break.

Tang Tian dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and ran a set play, using successive Chuanhua Butterfly Steps (穿花蝴蝶步) to get past Thompson and Iguodala.

The Warriors completely collapsed their defense, and the entire defense was mobilized.

Tang Tian made a turnaround fadeaway fake, jumped up, and displayed the Olsen Happiness Force in the air, twisting his waist to pass the ball to Walker on the outside.

Walker's open three-point shot.

*Swish!*

The basketball went cleanly through the net.

7-0!

The Pelicans didn't just draw first blood, they gave the Warriors a big shock to start the game!

"I have a feeling that the Pelicans tonight are very different from the Pelicans of the past two rounds."

Barkley said at this time.

"Yes, I have this feeling too. The quality they're playing with on both offense and defense tonight, especially on defense, is completely different."

Smith nodded, which was why he had made that exclamation earlier.

"Yes, this difference is hard to describe, but it really is different."

Barkley then echoed.

"They get stronger when facing stronger opponents."

O'Neal hadn't spoken before, but waited until the two of them were finished before speaking with a slightly smug expression.

"The previous two rounds were like warm-ups, training. Who would go all out during training? This round is the real game, and when the game comes, you should naturally bring your full strength."

O'Neal was acting like a Tang Tian fanatic, even a Pelicans fanatic.

However, Barkley and Smith couldn't help but nod after hearing him.

When strong teams play games, because their floor is relatively high, it really takes strong enough opponents to make them take it seriously enough.

This was purely a matter of mentality, which could also explain why the Trail Blazers were able to tie the Pelicans in the regular season but ultimately couldn't win.

The difference in strength was there, and how big the score difference was completely depended on how seriously the Pelicans took it.

The game on the court continued, and the changes in the score provided the most convincing evidence for O'Neal's bragging theory.

Three minutes, the score on the court was 12-2.

Five minutes, 20-10.

Seven minutes, 25-12.

Nine minutes, 30-14!

At the end of the first quarter, 39-19!

The Pelicans actually led the Warriors by as many as 20 points at the end of the first quarter!

During the inter-quarter break, Stevens was interviewed on the sidelines. He was in a very good mood, acknowledging his players' performance with a beaming face.

And the camera showed Durant, Curry, and Green sitting on the sidelines resting.

They wiped their sweat, and then looked up at the score, feeling indescribable emotions in their hearts.

There was nothing wrong with their own condition, but the quality of the Pelicans' offense and defense tonight was too terrifying.

Or in other words, the Spurs and Trail Blazers must have been playing against a fake Pelicans team before!