Owen made two free throws, bringing the Cavaliers' lead to 13 points.

Smith's analysis was thorough; the Pelicans' recent form was indeed problematic.

Just as Owen finished his free throws, the fans on the forum were already ecstatic.

"The game is the best proof, there's no need to say more. Tang and my Emperor are not on the same level at all!"

"Look at my Emperor's stats, 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, and then look at Tang's, 2 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist. Tang being ranked ahead of my Emperor is a joke!"

"Xiao Hua, did you see that? My Emperor is the number one player in the league, he should be this season's MVP!"

...

The fans on the forum were discussing heatedly, but the players on the court couldn't see it.

After seeing Jokic enter the game, Tang Tian pulled him aside and whispered a few words.

The Pelicans moved to the frontcourt, Jokic stood outside the three-point line, and everyone else fell to the baseline.

This positioning prevented the Cavaliers from immediately double-teaming.

Tang Tian held the ball outside the three-point line on the right side, with Waiters defending him.

At this point in history, the Knicks had already traded JR Smith and Shumpert to the Cavaliers.

But the Lakers and Knicks' summer trade changed this outcome, and Waiters was still the Cavaliers' starting shooting guard.

Without Shumpert, Tang Tian had a big advantage in one-on-one situations.

He dribbled low and changed direction, then suddenly took a step to the right and directly passed Waiters.

Love in the paint came out to help defend.

Tang Tian broke through to a step inside the free-throw line, and after getting close to Love, he passed the ball to Davis at the baseline.

Davis caught the ball and strode to the basket, slamming the ball in with one hand.

Jokic's presence on the court cleared out the Cavaliers' paint, and Tang Tian's penetration to the basket created opportunities.

Cavaliers coach Blatt shouted something to Irving on the sidelines.

Irving dribbled to the frontcourt, used Mozgov's pick-and-roll to penetrate to the basket, and avoided Jokic with a mid-air layup to score.

Blatt was well-prepared for the game, and he also understood Jokic's characteristics well, knowing that defense was the latter's weakness.

The Cavaliers still maintained a 13-point lead.

Jokic continued to clear the Cavaliers' paint.

Waiters was trying hard to defend, but he really couldn't stop Tang Tian.

Tang Tian broke through again.

This time, Mozgov shrank to the paint to protect the basket.

Tang Tian looked back at Jokic while breaking through and passed the ball to him.

Jokic caught the ball with a wide-open look, aimed at the basket, and shot.

"Swish!"

The three-pointer went straight through the net, Jokic maintained his excellent recent form and was on right away.

This was his ability.

Whether a big man can stretch the floor depends on whether he can make three-pointers. If he can't, others can completely leave you open on the perimeter.

Like Draymond Green in the Warriors' later years in history, you can shoot as much as you want.

But Jokic's form was obviously different from Green's. If the Cavaliers dared to leave him open, he could really make it!

On the Cavaliers' offense, James broke through Ariza to the basket.

Ariza tried hard to defend, and Jokic also came out to help defend. The two combined to block James' layup.

James' shot missed, and he turned to the referee to ask for a foul, but the referee didn't give it.

Jokic grabbed the defensive rebound and immediately passed the ball to Tang Tian.

Tang Tian and Holiday had a two-on-one fast break, and he passed the ball to Holiday.

Holiday's layup was interfered with by Irving and bounced off the rim, but Tang Tian followed up and jumped up to dunk the ball into the basket.

The Pelicans launched a 7-2 run, narrowing the point difference to 8 points.

Tang Tian had 2 points and 2 assists in this offensive wave, putting on a very eye-catching performance.

However, Tang Tian's emotions didn't change much. The thing he did the most on the court was to remind his teammates to pay attention to help defense.

He couldn't see the criticisms on the forum, and he wouldn't take them seriously even if he did.

He wasn't fighting for MVP with trash talk, but with his performance on the court.

Just like when he played against the Spurs, he mobilized his teammates when the situation was unfavorable and turned the momentum around. That was his way of competing for MVP.

James passed to Love, and Love's third three-point attempt of the quarter missed.

He had made two consecutive shots before, and his touch finally dropped off a bit.

Jokic used his big butt to push away Mozgov and reached out to secure the defensive rebound.

The Cavaliers quickly retreated on defense, and Blatt shouted something to his teammates on the sidelines again.

After the Pelicans positioned in the frontcourt, Mozgov simply didn't come out.

The meaning was obvious: if Jokic had the ability, he should just shoot the Cavaliers to death.

Tang Tian directly passed the ball to Jokic, and Jokic took another three-point shot.

"Clang!"

His second three-pointer failed to hit.

Mozgov grabbed the defensive rebound.

The Cavaliers launched a fast break, with James making a lightning-fast layup.

Davis displayed his talent, chasing from the backcourt to the frontcourt and giving James a chase-down block.

This block ignited the emotions of the fans in the arena.

"Go! Pelicans!"

Holiday dribbled forward to the frontcourt, and the crowd erupted in a unified cheer.

Mozgov continued to shrink to the paint.

Jokic took the ball again but didn't shoot. Instead, he gestured for Tang Tian to come over and take the ball.

Tang Tian sped over, Jokic handed the ball off to Tang Tian, and then directly set an on-the-spot pick.

His large frame directly blocked Waiters.

At this time, Mozgov was in the paint, and the others were far away from the arc, giving Tang Tian an absolutely wide-open opportunity.

He directly pulled up for a three-pointer.

"Swish!"

With a crisp sound, Tang Tian's key three-pointer was decisive.

The Pelicans narrowed the point difference to 5 points!

Blatt's defensive adjustment didn't work, and he turned around and called Tristan Thompson up.

Tristan Thompson's nickname is TT, which is exactly the same as Tang Tian's initials.

He was also a rookie in the same year as Tang Tian.

His mobility was better than Mozgov's, and he could rush out to the three-point line and still recover, which greatly helped the Cavaliers' defense.

However, the previous wave of counter-attack climax allowed the Pelicans to find their rhythm, and Jokic even used his weight to break through from the three-point line to the basket and score a goal.

By the time there were 10 seconds left in the first quarter, the Pelicans had narrowed the point difference to only 2 points.

James forced a drive against Ariza.

Ariza tried his best to defend, and Jokic in the paint also came out to help defend.

James passed the ball to Miller on the outside.

"Pa!"

However, this pass was successfully predicted by Tang Tian. He dashed out from the side, stole the ball, and made a one-man fast break to the frontcourt, squeezing past Dellavedova and hitting a buzzer-beater.

With the help of the counter-attack in the second half, the Pelicans erased a 13-point deficit and tied the score at 30.

When Tang Tian hit the buzzer-beater, the fans in the arena cheered continuously, and many fans even raised their hands and stood up, shouting MVP.

In the second half, Tang Tian fully demonstrated the role of an MVP. He scored 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists, single-handedly leading the team to tie the score.

"Charles, what did I tell you? The game has only been played for 7 minutes."

O'Neal looked at Barkley in the commentary booth, laughing loudly.

As a former star, he, like Popovich, also felt that Tang Tian's performance was more like an MVP.

After all, James' good performance was when the Cavaliers were in good shape as a whole, in other words, it was playing with the momentum.

But Tang Tian stood up when the team was behind, playing against the tide.

In contrast, when the Pelicans were chasing points, James' performance was inferior to Tang Tian's.