"A single game loss is nothing, everyone don't have any psychological burden, the Warriors can't be that accurate every game."

After the game, Williams encouraged the players once again.

After he finished speaking, the team's morale recovered slightly.

The players went back to the hotel to rest one after another, but Jokic and Holiday, among others, stayed behind at the arena for extra practice.

Tang Tian also stayed, but he didn't do extra practice; instead, he watched the game film repeatedly in the locker room by himself.

The more he watched, the deeper his frown became.

Just like Williams said, there are seven games in a series, losing one isn't really anything.

Moreover, this was the Warriors' home court. If they won, the problem would be with the Warriors.

But this was a big defeat, and the real reason Tang Tian frowned was that after watching the game repeatedly, he confirmed something: the Pelicans, playing as they were now, couldn't beat the Warriors.

The Warriors' offense was phenomenal; it was the first team to use three-pointers as their primary offensive weapon and play efficiently.

And besides three-pointers, there was also the support of the endless off-ball cut tactic, which ensured that the team wouldn't fall into a scoring drought when their outside shooting wasn't good.

To put it in an image, it was the Princeton offense with an increased proportion of three-pointers. When they played with chemistry, their strength directly rose to S-level, and when they were in good form, they were unsolvable.

This was the most perfect system meeting the most suitable people after the elimination of the handcheck rule.

So, Williams's encouragement to the players that the Warriors' touch would decline was not only passive, but also just self-comforting.

Defend the outside, and the Warriors would cut inside; don't defend the outside, and the first game was the example.

The Warriors' offense couldn't be completely shut down; this was something he knew in his previous life.

Now, unless he could make Jokic gain muscle instantly and make his and Davis's scoring more efficient, using offense to kill the Warriors...

Otherwise, wanting to win a series against the Warriors was really difficult.

Tang Tian was still watching the film when Jokic finished his extra practice and returned to the locker room first.

He was surprised to see that Tang Tian hadn't left yet, so he sat down and chatted with Tang Tian for a while.

Tang Tian knew that Jokic had a high basketball IQ, and as the two of them chatted, they unconsciously touched on the subject of the team's tactics.

"They are indeed difficult to defend, but can we start from the details and try to lower the offensive rhythm as much as possible, so that we might at least create opportunities?"

Jokic didn't have any great tactical ideas either, but his understanding of the game was from a different perspective.

Tang Tian nodded thoughtfully. His perspective on the game was from a coach's angle, at the strategic level, while what Jokic said was purely at the game level.

But that was indeed the logic; without defeating the opponent at the tactical and strategic level, purely competing on the details, the Pelicans still had a good chance of reaching the crucial moment.

As long as they could reach the crucial moment, he had the ability to change the game.

There were two days of rest between the first and second games of the Western Conference Finals. Tang Tian talked to Williams about this issue the next day.

Williams listened to his advice and adjusted the training content to be full-court, focusing on the details of the game.

The players' attitude during training was also very serious. They had fought their way through thorns and brambles to the Western Conference Finals, and they were definitely not willing to be defeated so easily.

While the Pelicans were actively preparing for the second game of the Western Conference Finals, the second game on the Eastern Conference side had already been played.

The Bulls defeated the Cavaliers 94-88 in the second game, changing the score to 1-1.

One side was missing Noah, and the other side was missing Love. In theory, the Bulls' loss was even greater.

But Butler and Rose combined for 50 points, allowing the Bulls to have the last laugh.

The result of this game further confirmed one thing: the Cavaliers, without Love, had really dropped a lot in strength.

The next night, the second game of the Western Conference Finals continued to be played at the Oracle Arena.

The Pelicans players' fighting spirit was still very high. It could be seen that after the adjustment, they were not affected by the big defeat in the first game.

The Warriors players were also in good condition. Curry's pre-game player tunnel three-pointer went straight through the heart again. He really was the representative of freakish accuracy now.

There were no adjustments to either side's starting lineup.

Bogut won the jump ball against Davis, officially opening the curtain on the second game of the Western Conference Finals.

Curry continued his excellent touch from the previous game, sinking a super long three-pointer right from the start.

However, the Pelicans were obviously slowing down the pace and playing position offense in this game.

Tang Tian forced his way to the basket at the start, drawing a foul on Thompson and making both free throws to score the opening points for the Pelicans.

Thompson missed a three-pointer on the other end, and the Pelicans didn't rush to launch a counterattack. Jokic forced his way in the low post against Green and scored.

These few possessions became an epitome of the Pelicans' first half. Their style of play was very similar to the Grizzlies they had faced before, which was to desperately slow down the Warriors' rhythm.

The Warriors' offensive efficiency was still not low, but after the number of possessions was reduced, the score was obviously less than before.

At the end of the half, the score on the court was 50 to 47.

Although the Warriors were still leading, the point difference was so small that it could be ignored.

The Pelicans' tactics had obviously worked. According to this rhythm, and considering Tang Tian's clutch ability, they clearly had a better chance in this game.

But the premise was that they could withstand the Warriors' signature third-quarter surge.

Back for the third quarter, the home fans' emotions didn't diminish.

There are four quarters in a game, and the third quarter is the Warriors' best, and the one the fans love to watch the most.

Kerr also took the initiative to change and adjust the lineup in the third quarter. He took Bogut off the starting lineup and replaced him with Iguodala, directly putting out a small-ball lineup.

The Pelicans' strategy in the first half forced Kerr to reveal all his cards.

The Pelicans attacked first in the second half, still playing inside. Green defended Jokic in the low post.

This time Green held on, successfully defending Jokic's offense and also protecting the defensive rebound.

After the successful defense, the Warriors directly launched a fast break. The small-ball configuration was incredibly fast.

The Pelicans retreated quickly, but they were still a bit unable to keep up.

This wasn't a question of aggressiveness, but a limitation of the lineup.

Curry received the ball in the frontcourt, made a fake three-pointer, and then passed the ball to Iguodala, who was cutting towards the middle, and the latter directly dunked with one hand to score.

Because of his outstanding three-point ability, many people would forget Curry's passing. His passing was also absolutely historical.

Tang Tian called for the ball in the low post, but the Warriors directly helped defend in advance, not giving Holiday the chance to pass the ball in.

Moreover, when Holiday wanted to shoot himself, Curry's return defense was very fast.

The small-ball lineup greatly increased the Warriors' double-teaming and help defense speed.

Holiday finally shot a three-pointer that was interfered with by Curry, and the ball bounced off the rim.

Barnes grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Warriors launched another fast break.

This time Curry stopped suddenly and shot from two meters away from the three-point line in the frontcourt.

This was an unreasonable but very Curry-esque shot.

"Swish!"

The three-pointer went straight through the net.

The Warriors' death lineup was extremely powerful, and they launched a 5-0 run against the Pelicans at the start of the second half!