Williams' brow relaxed, and he nodded.

This round could be considered a successful defense.

However, Anderson's three-point attempt from beyond the arc still missed, and the Pelicans couldn't continue their scoring run.

Williams turned around and called Tang Tian and Davis over, substituting them in ahead of schedule.

Brooks, seeing this, also called Ibaka and Durant over.

Neither side was treating this as an ordinary regular-season game; they were fighting tooth and nail.

Jackson's drive resulted in a defensive foul by Anderson.

The game entered a dead ball situation, and both sides made substitutions.

Tang Tian and Davis replaced Roberts and Morrow, while Ibaka and Durant replaced Collison and Butler.

Durant received the ball in the frontcourt, guarded by Davis.

Williams was sticking to his tactical thinking, which was to prevent Tang Tian from expending too much energy on the defensive end.

Durant drove straight at Davis, performing a Euro-step layup at the basket.

However, his shot was contested by Davis at the moment of release, and the ball slid off the rim.

Prokopiou's initial analysis was correct; Davis was a larger version of Durant. Although he was a bit slower, his wingspan compensated for this to some extent.

His ability to defend smaller players was very strong.

After Davis' successful defense, he grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Pelicans launched a fast break.

The Thunder's transition defense was quick, but the Pelicans attacked even faster.

After completing the block, Davis sprinted down the court and actually kept up!

Tang Tian cut to the basket from the right, saw Davis had followed to the middle, and threw the ball towards the basket.

Davis soared into the air, catching the ball and slamming it down.

Jackson at the basket dodged out of the way.

"Boom!"

Davis scored with a direct alley-oop dunk!

"This is the future of the Pelicans!"

Smith exclaimed from the commentary booth.

Tang Tian integrated offense and defense while also being able to pass, and Davis could defend and had excellent fast-break speed. The two were truly infinitely compatible.

The Pelicans finally continued their scoring run!

Durant continued to call for the ball in the frontcourt for a one-on-one, this time intentionally avoiding Davis, and then made a left-handed layup.

Apart from needing to strengthen his physicality, Durant was already close to being a complete player in other aspects, and the current Davis couldn't really defend him.

Tang Tian went one-on-one against Lamb in the frontcourt, shaking him off with a series of crossovers before pulling up for a fadeaway jumper.

"Swish!"

Facing his former college teammate, he showed no mercy and scored cleanly.

The Pelicans took the lead 30-29!

After the substitute rotation at the beginning of the second quarter, Tang Tian and Durant had started trading scores again!

This year's scoring title was really hard to get!

Durant attacked Davis again in the frontcourt, still with the Euro-step layup.

Whiteside tried to block it and was called for a defensive foul.

Whiteside was still a bit inexperienced.

Moreover, the Euro-step was a scoring weapon second only to Harden's foul-drawing ability, and it wasn't easy to defend successfully.

Durant made both free throws, and the Thunder retook the lead 31-30!

The score alternated between the two sides, and the situation was extremely tense.

Gordon's breakthrough scored, and Durant turned around and attacked Davis again.

Davis' height and wingspan were not inferior to his, and speed was his biggest advantage.

However, Davis' physical talent was really strong. Although his speed was a disadvantage, the difference wasn't that great. The pressure from behind was considerable.

Durant tried to avoid and make the layup.

"Slap!"

At this moment, Whiteside suddenly made a move and blocked him with a huge block!

He couldn't block him on a one-on-one defense, but with two-man help defense, they still managed to block the ball!

Davis smiled and gave Whiteside a high-five.

He had been worried about whether Whiteside could play in the NBA, but this was already the latter's third block of the quarter!

Tang Tian was also quite pleased at this moment.

During last year's draft, the Pelicans selected Noel and originally had the opportunity to form a no-fly zone with Davis.

However, the management later used him to trade for Holiday, and although Holiday was strong, it still left some fans with regret.

Especially when Tang Tian became the team's leader and the Pelicans' interior was empty.

But Whiteside suddenly emerged, replacing Noel and building a new no-fly zone with Davis!

Durant was a little angry that he had been blocked by a ten-day contract player.

After receiving the ball, he called Adams for a pick-and-roll, mismatching against Whiteside, and then directly broke through strongly.

He took a Euro-step shot after the contact.

"Slap!"

Whiteside blocked the ball out of bounds again with another huge block!

Whiteside gave Durant consecutive blocks!

"Holy shit! Who the hell is he?!"

Barkley was stunned in the commentary booth.

Four blocks in a quarter, Whiteside's blocking ability was too terrifying!

"I don't know who he is, but his blocks are really good."

O'Neal nodded seriously from the side.

"He was a second-round pick in 2010, and he hasn't shown much before. He just returned from playing overseas. The interesting thing is that he just finished playing in the Chinese professional league, the NBL."

Kenny Smith had already looked up the information at this time.

"Second-round pick, China, why do I feel like he and Tang have such a fate? Will he become another Tang?"

Barkley continued.

"Who knows? But the Pelicans' interior is indeed not very good, and he has this opportunity."

Smith nodded.

However, before he could finish speaking, Durant drew Whiteside's third personal foul.

Four blocks in a quarter, but also three fouls. His advantages and disadvantages were very obvious.

Fortunately, he looked very young.

Taking advantage of this dead-ball time, both sides continued to make substitutions, with the main players being replaced one after another.

However, Whiteside was still left on the court by Williams.

Although he didn't have any offensive ability and had a few too many fouls, in Williams' eyes, he was already much better than the other interior players.

Durant made both free throws, and the Thunder retook the lead 33-32.

"Defense! Defense!"

In the stalemate, the fans began to exert their home-court advantage, cheering in unison to cheer on the Thunder.

The Pelicans' attack in the frontcourt didn't create an opportunity.

This time, after receiving the ball, Tang Tian called Whiteside to the free-throw line for a pick-and-roll.

Whiteside's pick-and-roll quality was average, and Adams and Sefolosha directly chose to double-team and press.

Tang Tian dribbled the ball back a step, then threw the ball directly towards the basket.

Davis was entangled with Ibaka at this time, and this ball was thrown to…

Whiteside!

He had already run towards the basket when he saw Tang Tian pass the ball.

His pick-and-roll quality wasn't high, but he was very flexible. Before the ball arrived, he had already taken a big step and jumped up.

Grabbing the ball with his right hand in the air, followed by a powerful dunk.

"Boom!"

When he landed, his left hand followed up again, completing a thunderous two-handed alley-oop dunk!

The ball went into the basket and made a huge muffled sound through the speakers.

Violent rim assault!

The audience was in an uproar.

First Davis, then Whiteside, the Pelicans had two consecutive alley-oop dunks directed by Tang Tian in this quarter!

They were about to take over the Clippers' nickname of Lob City!

"He is the answer to the Pelicans' center position!"

Barkley shouted at this moment.

The league was gradually entering the small-ball era, and there were fewer and fewer excellent centers.

Able to block, able to rebound, flexible, and able to finish at the rim.

This was the most sought-after interior player in the small-ball era!