Chapter 1 The Return Match

The New Orleans Arena was packed that night.

How could the local fans miss Tang Tian's return game!

Moreover, the team had been losing recently, and they desperately needed a victory tonight!

The pre-game opening ceremony had also been adjusted slightly.

Tang Tian was the last player to be introduced onto the court.

"Number 31, the 2.03-meter-tall small forward, Tang~~ Tian!!"

When the host elongated his voice and shouted, the decibel level of cheers in the arena reached its peak.

They hadn't seen Tang Tian play for almost a month and missed him terribly!

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were successively released.

For the Grizzlies, the outside players were Conley and Tony Allen, the small forward was Courtney Lee, who had just been traded in, and the inside players were the "Black and White Bears," Randolph and Gasol Jr.

The core of this Grizzlies team was the two inside players, and the foundation was defense.

All five players on the court were above the league average in terms of defense, and it was even no exaggeration to say that they were top-notch.

This was unique in the league, which was why Kenny Smith described them as "making you peel off a layer of skin even if you don't die."

Such opponents were really difficult to deal with.

The Pelicans also had a change in their starting lineup, with the underperforming Jason Smith being replaced by Alexis Ajinça in the starting position.

Ajinça was a French player, and like Davis, he was a freak with a long wingspan, with good defense and blocks, and a usable mid-range shot.

However, his rebounding awareness was average, and he committed a lot of fouls, which was why he hadn't started before.

But for the current Pelicans team, he was a barely usable player.

There were no changes in the other positions, still Holiday and Morrow, Tang Tian and Davis.

Aminu's three-point training progress was slower than expected, while Morrow's three-point shooting had been surprisingly stable this season, firmly occupying the starting position.

In the jump ball between Davis and Gasol Jr., two wingspan freaks, Davis was even better, winning the first offensive opportunity for the home team.

As soon as Tang Tian landed in the high post, Allen used a fronting defense against him.

This showed that they had thoroughly studied Tang Tian, knowing that he wasn't good at dribbling, and started his defense by limiting his ability to receive the ball.

Holiday couldn't pass the ball in, and after a pick-and-roll with Davis, he passed the ball back.

Davis's catch-and-shoot was interfered with by Randolph's help defense and missed, and Gasol Jr. retreated to the basket to protect the defensive rebound.

The home fans stirred for a while.

The Grizzlies' defense was layered and fully coordinated with each other.

This was the top defensive team in the league right now.

Turning around, they attacked strongly under the basket, and Randolph scored with a bank shot against Davis.

The Grizzlies scored first.

With this offense and defense, the Pelicans were really restrained to death.

Kenny Smith's words on the TNT program were still fresh in his ears, and it wasn't a good thing for Tang Tian to choose to return in such a game.

The Pelicans advanced to the frontcourt again, and Tang Tian took the initiative to run to Holiday to ask for the ball.

Allen was still sticking very closely, his defense was really airtight.

However, Tang Tian dribbled once and then drove hard towards the inside with the ball.

Tony Allen was 1.93 meters tall and weighed 97 kilograms, and his physical confrontation wasn't much weaker than Tang Tian's.

Tang Tian was struggling to break through to the free throw line.

But just then, he suddenly chose to stop suddenly and shoot a pull-up jumper.

Allen jumped up to interfere.

"Swish!"

Tang Tian made a pull-up shot in the face of Allen's defense.

A burst of whistles sounded from the sidelines.

Tang Tian's return depended on his physical condition and the team's situation, and he didn't pick his opponents. He knew that Allen was difficult to play against, but he would never deliberately avoid him.

Randolph tried to score under the basket again but was defended by Davis, and Morrow had previously let Allen go to double-team.

Allen's defense was strong, but his offensive ability in positional warfare was almost zero.

Randolph's interfered shot went wide.

This was the Grizzlies' weakness. Compared to their defense, their offense was really not good.

This was also determined by their lineup. The two inside players' one-on-one plays were more advantageous and effective offensive means than other tactics.

Davis protected the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans attacked the frontcourt again, and Allen directly used various physical confrontations against Tang Tian.

Allen's defense was very similar to "The Glove" Payton's. Both were short and both took defense to the extreme.

Their defense didn't rely on physical talent, but on aggressiveness.

Based on excellent physical confrontation, they constantly interfered and harassed to consume your stamina and distract your attention.

Like a tireless fighter.

However, Tang Tian's choice was also very simple, directly confront, and then pull-up.

Tang Tian's current offensive means were limited, and even Kobe, who had the most abundant offensive means, couldn't get too many advantages against Allen.

So the only thing he could use was his height advantage.

And it was the height advantage after the confrontation.

One of the important reasons why Durant was defended so miserably by Allen and couldn't use his height advantage was that he wasn't good at confrontation.

This was also the biggest difference between Durant and James at the moment.

"Bang!"

Tang Tian's shot after the confrontation missed.

But he didn't care. Seeing that the rebound was taken by Gasol Jr., he turned around and retreated to defend.

Don't expect much from shooting percentage when playing against a team like the Grizzlies.

Gasol Jr.'s turnaround fadeaway at the free throw line also didn't go in, and Davis grabbed another defensive rebound.

When they attacked the frontcourt, Tang Tian's shot still missed.

The two teams had played for almost three minutes, and the score on the court was 2 to 2. The watchability was really a bit low.

"Allen's defense is really outstanding."

The guest commentator on the commentary booth couldn't help but sigh.

Tang Tian's choice was actually the best, but Allen's defense was really difficult to break through.

Gasol Jr. passed the ball after being double-teamed in the low post. Lee received the ball and shot, but Tang Tian pounced over to interfere, and his shot still missed.

Ajinça got the defensive rebound.

In the frontcourt, Tang Tian still held the ball to attack.

Davis's screen was also bypassed by Allen.

However, Tang Tian seized this moment of gap, drove hard towards the inside with the ball, and shot after confronting Allen under the basket.

Still missed!

He jumped up again, grabbed the offensive rebound and shot again, drawing Allen's shooting foul and going to the free throw line.

4 shots, 1 goal, Tang Tian's efficiency was not high.

"Tang has Mamba mentality."

At this time, the commentators on the sidelines couldn't help but joke.

Tang Tian couldn't hear it, he adjusted his breathing and then made both free throws, helping the Pelicans take a 4-2 lead.

And even if he heard it, he wouldn't care.

The Pelicans' starting lineup required him to attack more.

If he didn't attack, would they expect Holiday to force his way through the "Double Bears," or let Davis play one-on-one under the basket? Or expect Gordon to explode off the bench?

Not everyone was James, who had to pursue shooting percentage all the time.

Moreover, the Pelicans' past losing streak had proven that they couldn't win like that.

So, like Kobe back then, he had to attack.

Of course, there was an even more important point: Tony Allen was good at everything on the defensive end, but his age had already reached 33.

This was close to the end of his career for a defensive player who relied on defense, and on confrontation and endurance.

If he kept confronting like this, Allen's stamina would soon have problems.