Whiteside flared up instantly and shoved Randolph.

Randolph, elbows raised, was about to go at Whiteside, but Gasol Jr., who was nearby, held him back.

After separating the two, the referee went to the scorer's table to watch the replay.

Tang Tian pulled Whiteside aside and said a few words.

In the last game, Whiteside's fouls made the team very passive in the paint. If he acted impulsively again now, they might very well lose the game.

After Tang Tian's persuasion, Whiteside's emotions stabilized temporarily.

The ruling from the scorer's table also came out.

Whiteside received a technical foul.

Conley made the technical free throw, and the Grizzlies continued to possess the ball.

Randolph continued to attack Whiteside. This time, he didn't go outside but directly charged towards the basket.

He was really tough and experienced. He used footwork and a feint at the edge of the restricted area, then turned and used his strength to create a foul on Whiteside's hand.

Whiteside suffered a hidden loss.

Seeing the referee's whistle, Randolph shouted excitedly in place, as if he had just made a game-winning shot instead of drawing a foul.

Whiteside's brow furrowed again.

He played frustratingly in the last game and wanted to make up for it in this one, but he didn't expect to be suppressed so uncomfortably from the start.

This was Randolph's technical characteristic: making you uncomfortable and unable to vent.

Griffin understood this feeling very well.

Booed by the crowd, he made one of two free throws, giving the Grizzlies a 4-0 lead to start the game.

Tang Tian stepped up at a critical moment. After breaking through, he made a sudden stop and fadeaway jumper before the help defense arrived, breaking the Pelicans' scoring drought.

In the next few minutes, both teams increased their defensive intensity, and neither side was able to score on several possessions.

The score was still 4-2 after more than three minutes of play.

This game was really Grizzly-esque.

At a critical moment, it was Tang Tian again, who made a pinpoint pass to Davis at the baseline, who then dunked for two points.

But just as the ball went in, the referee's whistle blew.

It turned out that Whiteside and Randolph had a physical conflict while jostling for position under the basket, and the referee blew a warning whistle.

In the Grizzlies' offense, Gasol Jr.'s hook shot from the arc missed.

Randolph used his positioning to grab the offensive rebound, and after a series of turnaround feints, he made a layup.

Whiteside already had one foul, so he didn't dare to block the shot easily.

After scoring, Randolph turned and glanced at Whiteside, a disdainful smile on his face.

"Your defense is like a woman's breasts, soft and weak."

Randolph said with a laugh.

He wasn't just provoking, he was trash-talking Whiteside.

Whiteside's head heated up at this point, and he completely forgot Tang Tian's advice, raising his hands and going at Randolph directly.

The referee's whistle blew, and the players from both sides came up to forcibly separate them.

This time, the referee didn't even look at the replay and gave Whiteside a technical foul first.

"He cursed at me! He cursed at me first!"

Whiteside was very unconvinced and kept appealing to the referee.

But the referee ignored him and went to the scorer's table to watch the replay and confirm further penalties.

Randolph was still furious a second ago, but as he walked towards the bench, a smile appeared on his lips.

"Damn it!"

Tang Tian couldn't help but curse.

This Whiteside was really a pit.

Randolph was clearly taking advantage of the taste of success from the last game and deliberately trying to provoke Whiteside.

He had already advised him, but Whiteside still couldn't control himself. This wasn't just a matter of experience; it was really a mental problem.

With two technical fouls accumulated, Whiteside would be ejected, and the Pelicans' interior would be in trouble again.

It had to be said that the Grizzlies were not only tough but also really experienced.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to complete two "black seven/eight" upsets in a row and eliminate the Thunder for two consecutive years.

Although the Pelicans were second in the West and won the first game by a large margin, winning this series wouldn't be that easy.

After watching the technical replay, the referee gave each side a technical foul.

As a result, Whiteside accumulated two technical fouls and was ejected from the game.

As Whiteside left the court, the players' tunnel was filled with cheers.

Joerger couldn't hide the smile on his face. The Grizzlies' hopes of winning the game had suddenly increased.

In the playoffs, Whiteside's role was evident for the Pelicans. Neither Biyombo nor McGee on the bench could replace his role.

Moreover, after getting Whiteside ejected, Randolph became completely rational again.

At the end of the first quarter, the Grizzlies led the Pelicans by 5 points, 26-21.

Randolph had 10 points and 5 rebounds in a single quarter, a very eye-catching performance.

In the second quarter, both sides' starters were resting on the bench.

Aminu and Morrow stepped up for the Pelicans. The former successfully defended Green's isolation plays several times, and the latter successively made two two-pointers.

By the time the starters came back, the Pelicans had tied the score.

Tang Tian and Davis had several wonderful collaborations in the second half of the game, helping the Pelicans to score continuously.

But the Grizzlies also seized on Whiteside's absence, constantly attacking the interior, and Conley on the outside felt good and made two three-pointers.

The two sides stalemated and tied at 50 at halftime.

The game entered the mid-game break.

The players successively returned to the locker room from both sides of the player tunnel to rest.

"This is our stage!"

"You are doomed to lose!"

"Tang, you are destined not to beat us!"

……

The halftime situation was clearly beneficial to the Grizzlies, knowing that Whiteside could not play in the second half.

Aminu and Morrow were surprise players in the first half, but that may not be the case in the second half.

These fans couldn't hold back their triumphant emotions and had already begun to celebrate their victory in advance.

The stalemate made the Pelicans' locker room very gloomy.

In the last game, Whiteside was only in foul trouble, but in this game, he couldn't play in the second half, and it was still an away game.

Just like the Grizzlies fans shouted, this game was really difficult for the Pelicans.

After resting for a while, Williams and Borrego came to the locker room.

Williams, holding a tactical board, was about to start explaining the tactical arrangements for the second half.

"Give me the ball to play, give me isolation plays."

Tang Tian suddenly said at this moment.

This was very sudden, and everyone, including Williams, was stunned.

But after a brief silence, Williams put down the tactical board.

"Anthony, you will start in the second half. We will play a 2-3 zone defense. On offense, spread the floor and give Tang isolation plays."

Williams didn't have much tactical ability, but he really trusted his players.

In the second half, the Pelicans had a lineup adjustment. The player replacing Whiteside in the starting lineup in the second half was not Biyombo, but Morrow.

This was a lineup with one big and four small players.

Holiday dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and after the other three completely spread out, he passed the ball to Tang Tian and then ran to the weak side without the ball.

Tang Tian held the ball on the right wing at a 45-degree angle and faced Allen one-on-one.

His eyes revealed a murderous aura.

Weren't the Grizzlies fans saying that this was their stage? Then he would remind them.

The playoffs were never any team's stage, but the stage of superstars.