The Pelicans also led the Clippers 30-26.

Rivers on the sidelines was furious, roaring at the players on the court.

Griffin's words about not taking the Pelicans seriously were genuine. Rivers had been giving them pep talks about aiming for the championship this season.

The Pelicans were performing better than experts predicted, but they were clearly not in the championship conversation.

So, from their perspective, calling them non-contenders wasn't wrong.

That's why Rivers couldn't tolerate being led by the Pelicans in the first quarter and giving up 30 points.

Crawford came in and scored continuously, but Gordon and Anderson on the Pelicans' side also performed well, and the situation remained deadlocked.

As the game remained close, the Clippers' dirty tricks gradually increased, and the atmosphere on the court became increasingly tense.

Aminu was provoked by Barnes and received consecutive technical fouls, leading to his ejection.

The Pelicans could only use Metta World Peace to fill the gap temporarily.

After playing for a little over four minutes, both sides substituted their main players early.

Tang Tian forcefully broke through Barnes, scoring after a physical contest.

But it was at this moment that the accident happened.

Barnes' defensive move was a bit excessive, and he forcefully pulled Tang Tian as he was falling.

Although Tang Tian reacted quickly and adjusted in the air, he still landed on his shoulder and lay on the ground with a painful expression.

Seeing Tang Tian get knocked down, the other four Pelicans players quickly stepped forward to confront Barnes.

Barnes came from the Golden State Warriors' "bad boys" group, with a tough playing style, and his arrogance increased under Rivers.

Griffin and Crawford, among others, also came to stand behind him.

The atmosphere on the court was tense.

Barnes cursed and spat everywhere.

But as he was cursing, an iron fist suddenly came over.

He couldn't dodge in time and was directly knocked to the ground with one punch.

And it didn't stop there. The person who threw the punch sat on top of him and delivered a series of punches.

Fortunately, he was still conscious and knew to protect his head with his arms, otherwise he would have been knocked out on the spot.

Griffin was dumbfounded and didn't dare to step forward to pull them apart.

The person who threw the punch was Metta World Peace.

The Auburn Hills brawl had made Ron Artest famous worldwide, but the cost was also high, as he was suspended for a year.

After Artest returned, he became much more restrained and even changed his name to Metta World Peace.

But a thug is a thug after all, and an old thug is still an old thug.

When he wanted to throw a punch, Metta World Peace was no longer the locker room leader who loved to rap, but Ron Artest from Auburn Hills.

The referee almost blew the whistle apart before stopping the conflict from escalating further.

Metta World Peace was also pulled off of Barnes by Gordon and Smith.

Barnes' hands were shaking, and his nose was still bleeding. He had been beaten pretty badly.

The crowd cheered.

Although the method was a bit violent, responding to a malicious foul in this way was really satisfying, giving people a feeling of returning to the passionate basketball of the last century.

Because of the sudden conflict, the game entered an official timeout.

Tang Tian was being helped to the sidelines by Davis, and the team doctor came up to ask about his condition.

The replay of the previous conflict was being reviewed at the scorer's table to determine the final ruling.

However, most of the fans in the arena were looking at the Pelicans' bench.

Tang Tian's situation didn't look good.

"You better get checked out now. It doesn't look good," the team doctor reminded Tang Tian on the bench.

"Do I have to get checked out now?" Tang Tian asked the team doctor to confirm.

"Ideally, yes. Based on the current situation, it's likely a shoulder subluxation, possibly a dislocation, and there's also a chance of a shoulder labrum tear."

The team doctor said a bunch of professional terms, and what he wanted to convey was that the injury was not minor.

At this time, the final ruling from the scorer's table had come out.

Barnes was given a flagrant foul two and was ejected from the game.

Metta World Peace was also given a flagrant foul two and was ejected from the game.

With the same ruling, it was foreseeable that Metta World Peace would definitely be suspended and fined after the game.

After replaying the video of the conflict, the LED screen then replayed Barnes' malicious foul.

The move was vicious and clearly aimed at the person.

There was a chorus of boos, and Barnes and Metta World Peace left the court one after another.

The crowd gave Barnes a chorus of boos, and the fans at the entrance of the tunnel couldn't wait to go down and beat him up.

The game resumed after the timeout, but Tang Tian didn't return to the court. His shoulder was already stabilized with something, and it looked like he was seriously injured.

After communicating with the team doctor, Tang Tian decided to stay on the sidelines for the time being.

If it was a clear dislocation, he would definitely be in too much pain to sit still, but he wasn't, indicating that the situation wasn't as bad as the team doctor said.

Now that a conflict had just broken out, his staying would be a good encouragement to the team's morale.

With Tang Tian off the court, Gordon and Davis took over the team's scoring responsibility.

Although the Pelicans' situation on the court looked very passive after being "traded", they played very tenaciously.

At the end of the first half, they only trailed the Clippers by 5 points, 50-55.

During the halftime break, the players from both sides returned to the locker room.

Tang Tian didn't go back. After greeting his teammates in the player tunnel and telling them to cheer on in the second half, he went to the local hospital with the team doctor for an examination.

The first thing ruled out by the examination was a shoulder labrum tear.

This was the best possible news.

Among the injuries in the NBA that tormented players the most were meniscus tears in the knee, ankle injuries, and shoulder labrum tears.

If these injuries were serious, missing the season would be a minor issue, and they could even ruin an entire career.

Well-known examples include Kevin Love and Michael Carter-Williams.

Love suffered a shoulder labrum tear caused by Olynyk, and his strength declined directly after returning. He never recovered afterwards, becoming a trash contract that fans complained about.

Michael Carter-Williams' situation was even worse. He was a potential rookie who performed bravely in his rookie season, but directly faded out of the NBA.

This is the terrifying aspect of injuries.

Not everyone can recover from major injuries like Paul George in the future.

The Pelicans ultimately lost to the Clippers 91-106.

Although they tried hard, they were clearly at a disadvantage without Tang Tian.

When the Clippers players left the court after the game, they received boos from the entire arena.

This team already had a lot of dirty tricks, and Rivers had made it even worse since his arrival, so the fans of other teams didn't like them.

In addition to Griffin's previous provocation, this game ruined Tang Tian, and the two teams were completely at odds.

After a series of examinations, Tang Tian's injury report was also released the next day.

Slight shoulder dislocation, requiring 3-5 weeks of recovery treatment.

That is to say, he would usher in the first absence of his career in the regular season, and the time would be at least about a month.