Chapter 1 The Impending War

With the big battle looming, the pre-game interviews of both teams were also attracting attention.

During the regular season games between the two teams, James and Durant responded to whether they had gathered in Los Angeles because of Tang Tian.

At that time, the two people's responses were completely opposite, which made fans discuss it for a long time after the game.

This time, the two teams really met in the Western Conference Finals, and such questions were thrown out again in a roundabout way.

"KD said before that you came to Los Angeles to defeat the Pelicans. You are the Avengers. Do you think you can succeed in avenging?"

The reporter was really sly. Compared to the previous questions, this time he didn't give the two brothers any possibility of avoiding it.

"Yes, of course."

Durant's answer was the same as before, still very direct.

"I know what Barkley said about this, and we also know the final ending of the movie."

James is still James. Although he didn't say it very directly, the meaning was already very clear.

The Avengers series came to a phased end, and Thanos, as the biggest villain, was finally defeated by the assembled Avengers.

If it were according to the script in the movie, the winners in the end would be the Avengers.

In other words, what he meant was that the Lakers would win.

On the Pelicans' side, local Los Angeles media reporters also asked a similar question.

"Barkley compared you to Thanos on the show, and compared James and Durant to the Avengers. The Lakers are the Avengers, what do you think?"

It was the same question, but when thrown to Tang Tian, the analogy wasn't good at all.

Just as James implied, if he was Thanos, then he would be defeated in the end.

After all, the one who asked this question was a local Los Angeles reporter.

"We can't travel through time, right?"

Tang Tian didn't answer directly, but suddenly asked a very strange question in return.

The reporter didn't understand, but still nodded.

"Since we can't travel through time, then we all know who wins in the real world."

Tang Tian, like James, didn't say it very directly, but the meaning was also very easy to understand.

In the movie "Avengers: Infinity War," Thanos collected six gems, and finally snapped his fingers, doing what he wanted to do, wiping out half the life in the universe.

He also became one of the few villains in the movie who won in the end.

Just like what Tang Tian said at the beginning, you can't really travel through time in reality, so that's already the final ending.

The one who wins in the end is Thanos.

The answers from both sides were reported by the media, and it was another wave of heated discussions.

"I found that Tang and LeBron are amazing, you can't even understand the trash talk between these two without some IQ!"

"The legendary cursing without using dirty words, you even think it smells good when they spit out elegant phrases?"

"If these two participate in shows like 'Roast,' I think the show's effect would explode!"

"But the games between these two teams are really exciting. Barkley's analogy is really appropriate, the Avengers and Thanos, is the ending 3 or 4!"

"Lakers championship!"

"Pelicans championship!"

…

Tang Tian and James's verbal confrontation was tit-for-tat, and the fans' competition on social media was also evenly matched.

On James's side, there were James and Lakers fans, while on Tang Tian's side, there were Tang Tian and Chinese fans.

In this kind of trash-talking battle, the first game between the Lakers and the Pelicans that night kicked off at the Staples Center.

The ratings for this game broke historical records the moment it started.

James and Durant together faced Tang Tian in the Western Conference Finals.

Leaving aside the others, such a matchup was exciting enough to think about, let alone watch the game directly.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of the two teams were released one after another.

The Pelicans' side had its regular lineup, with Brogdon and Tang Tian on the outside, Green and Davis on the frontline, and Gasol at center.

The Lakers' side had a change in lineup, with Simmons not appearing in the starting lineup.

On the outside were Wade and Middleton, on the frontline were Durant and James, and Lopez at center.

Before the start of the season, James said that he would help Simmons develop a three-pointer as someone who's been there.

But the fact proves that Simmons really can't be taught. His three-point shooting percentage for the season was only a dismal 20%.

In this most critical game, he was directly placed on the bench.

It can be seen that Vogel attached great importance to the opening game.

This was also reasonable.

Having played in the playoffs until now, the Lakers and Pelicans are the two teams that have shown the strongest strength.

Now that the two sides are playing against each other, it is important to see how this start can be made.

The game was about to begin, and the starters of both sides took the field one after another.

Amid the cheers of the Los Angeles fans, Lopez jumped first and dialed the ball back to the Lakers' half, officially kicking off the game.

The Lakers' first attack was launched by Durant. He received the ball and backed up against Green, choosing a simple turnaround shot.

"Swish!"

The basketball went into the net hollow, and the Lakers' first attack was successful!

Just like Tang Tian's feeling after watching the game video, Durant and James's condition had been cultivated in the semifinals.

But in return, Tang Tian held the ball and broke through Middleton, and his sudden stop jump shot before Durant's help defense also went in.

James used his speed to squeeze past Davis to the basket in the next round.

Gasol helped defend and interfered, and James made a layup with an aerial reverse.

At the age of 35, he can still complete this kind of action. James's physical fitness is really good, and his current state is as hot as Durant's.

The Pelicans' positional attack was still Tang Tian, who broke through to the restricted area to attract James's help defense, and he passed the ball to Davis.

Davis quickly hit the board and scored two points smoothly.

Davis slapped hands with Tang Tian after scoring.

Tang Tian's pass was perfect, and he looked much more comfortable than when he played against the Spurs.

This was also expected.

In terms of defensive pressure, George and Leonard on the wings in the previous round were able to put the most defensive pressure on Tang Tian.

The Lakers were obviously weaker, and Tang Tian naturally had more room to play.

But the difference between the Lakers and the Spurs was also here, they were obviously more inclined to attack in the game.

The first few rounds of the two teams also became the epitome of this quarter.

A back-and-forth offensive battle. Those who didn't enjoy the Pelicans' game against the Spurs in the previous round had a plus-like experience this time.

James and Durant were in excellent condition on the Lakers' side, and Davis was also in excellent condition on the Pelicans' side in addition to Tang Tian.

Davis was also one of those who played well in the previous round.

Stevens saw that Davis was in good condition, so he let Tang Tian rest first, and kept him until the end of the quarter.

But it was at this moment that the accident suddenly happened.

When Davis was defending James, he jumped up to block the shot and landed, directly landing on James's instep, spraining his ankle!

There was a hint of stepping on the foot in James's play, but it also seemed like an unintentional act.

But no matter what the reason, Davis was helped off the court by the team doctor, and the situation didn't look optimistic.

On social media, fans had already started cursing.

Gasol sprained his ankle in the first game against the Spurs in the previous round. In this round against the Lakers, it was the first game again, and he sprained his ankle again, and it was Davis who was injured!