Stevens' expression was one of despair, and he could only send Siakam onto the court.

But without Davis's containment, the defensive pressure on Tang Tian obviously intensified.

Under heavy double-teaming, Tang Tian's scoring efficiency inevitably declined.

On the other hand, on the Lakers' side, James and Durant were in fiery form, especially James, who played with ease without Davis's close marking.

The point difference was gradually widened, and the Lakers also held their advantage in the final quarter, eventually defeating the Pelicans 108-96, taking the victory in the first game of the Western Conference Finals.

James scored 40 points alone, and Durant also had 25 points.

Although Tang Tian also scored 40 points, he only made 15 of 30 shots, which was very inefficient compared to previous games.

The two sides were evenly matched for the first half of the opening quarter, and Davis's injury directly changed the situation on the court.

After the game, fans naturally had a heated discussion on social media.

"If Gasol's injury is likened to being shot by a bullet, then now, without Davis, it's like being shot directly in the femoral artery!"

"Stevens: Seriously, my life is too hard!"

"Pelicans: We just want to play basketball healthily, please don't arrange this kind of script anymore!"

"This seems like LeBron undercut him, right? Davis's injury instant .jpg"

"How could my king undercut someone?! You're deliberately trying to slander him!"

"That's right, does my king need to undercut someone with his strength? Didn't you see that Davis stepped on it himself?!"

"These kinds of trolls are really disgusting, if they can't beat him, they say he undercut someone! Trash! Waste!"

"James undercutting Granger.jpg"

"James undercutting Ibaka.jpg"

"James undercutting Jimmy Butler.jpg"

"James undercutting Billups.jpg"

"James undercutting Curry.jpg"

"..."

"Okay, okay, everyone knows."

"No matter what, the Pelicans' luck in this year's playoffs is really unmatched!"

"There's no way, the Pelicans have already won three consecutive championships, if they win four in a row, even God can't stand it anymore!"

"Justice will eventually prevail, the Avengers are the ultimate winners! !!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ"

"Tell me louder, who is the champion?!"

"————"

...

Davis underwent CT and MRI examinations after the game.

Like Gasol, it was just a sprained ankle, with no fractures or torn ligaments.

This was the best of a bad situation, but because he stepped on James' instep, the situation was more serious than Gasol's, and he would be out for at least half a month.

In other words, even if the Pelicans could play seven full games with the Lakers, Davis wouldn't have time to recover.

Without Davis, and with James and Durant in such hot form, it would be really difficult for the Pelicans to get past the Western Conference Finals.

"The game isn't over yet, we need to win this series, not just for ourselves, for the fans, but also for AD."

There were two days of rest between the second game and the first game.

During these two days, in addition to daily training, Stevens also continued to use similar words to boost the team's morale.

Davis's absence was a big blow to the team's morale, and playing on the road, the pressure on the Pelicans' players would be very high.

Tang Tian did the same thing as Stevens.

But neither of their attempts worked very well.

This had nothing to do with personal speaking ability, but rather the fact that facing an opponent of the Lakers' level, Davis's absence really had a big impact.

Two days later, the second game of the Western Conference Finals between the Pelicans and the Lakers continued at the Staples Center.

The atmosphere among the fans at the scene was fiery.

And interestingly, many fans at the scene did not wear the t-shirts distributed by the arena, but instead wore Avengers outfits.

There were Captain Americas, Iron Mans, Thors, and even Hulks and Black Widows.

The on-site photographer was also very playful, giving Black Widow a close-up before the game started.

It should have been a model, with a curvy figure, which caused a burst of cheers and whistles at the scene.

Durant, who was warming up, had a complicated expression when he saw this scene, but there was also a hint of joy in his eyes.

Because of Barkley's words, the Lakers were regarded as the Avengers, and he and James were also regarded as Avengers.

Judging from the actions of the fans at the scene, this kind of talk was already well known.

Durant also enjoyed it a bit.

After all, there was a Scarlett in the Avengers, and this was the closest and most frequently he had been mentioned together with Scarlett.

After the warm-up, the on-site opening ceremony began.

The lineups on both sides were as expected.

The Lakers still had the same regular lineup as last time, with Wade still serving as the team's starting point guard.

On the Pelicans' side, Davis couldn't play, and Siakam replaced him as the starting power forward.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Lopez tipped the ball back to the Lakers' half, officially kicking off the second game between the two sides.

In the Lakers' first offensive possession, James drove through and attracted Green to shrink back, he passed the ball to Durant, who made a sudden stop and pulled up for a shot.

"Swish!"

As in the first game, Durant scored the first points for the Lakers.

On the Pelicans' side, Tang Tian was double-teamed by three players, and he passed the ball to Brogdon in time, but Brogdon's three-point shot failed to go in.

James protected the defensive rebound, and the Lakers launched a fast break, Durant followed up quickly, caught a pass from James, and made a flying layup.

He scored 4 points in a row to start the game, and he was a little excited tonight.

Tang Tian continued to be double-teamed by three players in the frontcourt, and this time the ball was passed to Green.

Tang Tian was also trying to find a way to break the double-team.

Under the huge pressure, it was normal for young players like Brogdon to lose their accuracy, Green was a veteran who had experienced big scenes, and he had a better grasp.

"Clang!"

Perhaps his touch was contagious, Green's three-pointer also failed to go in!

The Pelicans failed to seize two consecutive opportunities after the opening, and the Lakers could be even more unscrupulous in their defense against Tang Tian!

And what was even more deadly was the Lakers' fast break, this time Lopez grabbed the defensive rebound and passed a long ball directly to the backcourt.

Wade was like he was back in his prime, and he was as fast as lightning after getting the ball in the frontcourt.

In the blink of an eye, he had already rushed to the frontcourt and scored directly with a big stride layup!

The Lakers scored a 6-0 run against the Pelicans at the start!

The cheers at the Staples Center had exploded.

With Davis injured, the Lakers' theoretical probability of advancing soared, and now that the game had started like this, it was no longer theoretical!

It was three minutes into the game when Green finally made his second shot from the outside.

But at this time, the score on the court was 10 to 3, and the Lakers firmly controlled the situation.

This also became a microcosm of the first half of the game, at the end of the first half, the Lakers led the Pelicans by a full 15 points with a score of 58 to 43.

"AD's absence has had too much of an impact on the Pelicans, not only in terms of strength, but also psychologically!"

O'Neal said with emotion from the commentary booth.

As a Tang supporter, he definitely tended to want the Pelicans to win.

"The Pelicans' outside firepower isn't open, the Lakers are frantically double-teaming Tang, the Pelicans are really in trouble tonight."

Kenny Smith also nodded in agreement.

"It's a pity, they had a chance to complete four consecutive championships, but now they've lost to injuries!"

Barkley sighed.

The Pelicans' previous performance had been impressive.

But as they analyzed, injuries had destroyed this team, and the psychological pressure made the Pelicans' outside shots fail to open up.

The situation created by all of this was that even if Tang Tian possessed the strength of the number one player in history, he couldn't perform under the heavy double-teaming.

The Pelicans, this year is really going to stop in the Western Conference Finals!