That night, the Chesapeake Energy Arena was packed to capacity.

With Durant's return this season, coupled with the Tang-Du showdown, fans wouldn't miss a game like this.

Similar to Durant's thinking, the league's focus was now on the Warriors, Pelicans, Cavaliers, and even the Spurs, Rockets, and Mavericks.

They needed a victory like this to return to the league's spotlight, just like the Four Young Masters era.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both teams were announced.

The Pelicans still had their usual starting five.

For the Thunder, Westbrook was paired with second-year player Andre Roberson in the backcourt, with Durant and Ibaka on the front line, and Adams at center.

With the growth of Roberson and Adams, the paper strength of this starting lineup wasn't weaker than that of the Pelicans.

Adams outjumped Davis, and the Thunder got the first chance to attack.

Westbrook organized on the frontcourt, and Durant ran out to catch the ball and hit a mid-range shot.

The only gain for the Thunder last season was Westbrook's development of good organization and passing skills.

He and Durant hadn't played together for nearly a season, but the cooperation on that ball was better than ever before.

This was his improvement in passing ability.

For the Pelicans' offense, Jokic held the ball at the arc, and Tang Tian cut in to catch the ball and was double-teamed, passing the ball to Jokic at the arc.

Jokic was assisted and passed to Ariza again.

The Thunder's defensive rotation on this ball was very good, and Westbrook pounced on Ariza.

Ariza shot directly against the defense.

"Clang!"

The basketball was disturbed and smashed out of the frame.

Ibaka protected the defensive rebound.

The Thunder launched a defensive counterattack, and Durant caught the ball and faced Davis, making another emergency stop jumper.

The cheers at the scene continued.

The Thunder had a 4-0 start.

Stevens walked from the bench to the sideline and shouted at the Pelicans players, telling them to pay attention to retreating defense.

They had won every game in the past five games, and although he had been emphasizing it, the Pelicans inevitably became lax.

Ariza's shooting choice just now was a bit overconfident, and the Pelicans' retreat on that ball just now didn't meet his requirements.

Jokic and Holiday made a mistake in their frontcourt cooperation, and the ball went out of bounds.

The booing at the scene continued.

With the Pelicans in this state, the Thunder had a great chance of winning tonight!

"Defense! Play good defense!"

Stevens didn't call a timeout, but continued to remind the players to defend on the sidelines.

His continuous reminders finally worked, and the Pelicans' defensive intensity obviously improved.

Westbrook's layup was interfered by Davis, and Jokic protected the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans launched a defensive counterattack, and Tang Tian received Jokic's long pass from the backcourt and flew up to score a layup, breaking the Pelicans' scoring drought.

Stevens clapped his hands on the sidelines.

This was what he wanted to see, and it was why he first trained this team's defense.

Offensive state has its ups and downs, touch has its good and bad, and even in games with good state and good touch, there will be periods of time when they can't score.

Defense is the easiest way to solve the problem.

If you can't score, then the way to prevent the situation from getting worse is to prevent your opponent from scoring as well.

Not to mention there would be opportunities for defensive counterattacks like just now.

The Pelicans continued to show their defensive ability, and defended another wave of the Thunder's offense, with Davis grabbing the defensive rebound.

However, the Thunder retreated in time this time, and they didn't give the Pelicans a chance to launch a quick counterattack directly.

The Pelicans pressed to the frontcourt to play a positional battle, and Tang Tian sent a wonderful pass to Holiday, who cut to the baseline.

Holiday had a good layup opportunity.

However, after his shot, the ball rolled around on the basket for a circle and then came out again.

Ibaka recovered to protect the defensive rebound.

Compared with past games, the Pelicans' offense tonight was indeed a bit out of offensive shape.

But as Stevens asked, if the offense doesn't work, invest in defense.

The Thunder were almost defended for 24 seconds again. At the critical moment, it was Durant who turned around in the double-team and hit a fadeaway to break the scoring drought.

"I'm back!"

After scoring the goal, he turned around and roared at Tang Tian.

This roar from the flat ground roared out the emotions he had been holding back for a season.

He was back. Last season, he wanted to defeat Tang Tian and make the fans recognize himself again, but he ended up being injured for a season.

Now that he was back, he wanted to prove that he was still Durant, the best swingman.

However, in the next round, Tang Tian posted up Roberson in the high post, and also turned around in the double-team and hit a fadeaway shot.

Tang Tian didn't roar or shout, but immediately turned around and retreated to defend.

It was as if his score just now couldn't be more ordinary.

Durant was so angry that his eyebrows stood upside down. In the next round, he continued to single out Ariza, making another emergency stop pull-up jumper.

His condition after recovering from injury this season was very good.

But on the Pelicans' offense, Tang Tian carried the explosive pack and made a strong breakthrough layup, drawing Adams' defensive foul and getting two free throw opportunities.

After steadily hitting both free throws amidst the noise at the scene, he helped the Pelicans continue to keep the score close.

These few rounds became a microcosm of the first half of the game between the two sides.

The Pelicans were in poor offensive shape, and Tang Tian stood up to take over the game.

And on the Thunder's side, because the Pelicans' defensive intensity was very high, the ball was more concentrated in Durant's hands.

The Tang-Du showdown, as the fans expected, the two staged a scoring battle in the first half.

Tang Tian scored 20 points, and Durant scored 21 points. The two's scores were comparable, and the Pelicans tied the Thunder 45-45 in the half, and they were evenly matched.

After the first half, the players from both teams returned to the locker room one after another to rest.

In the Pelicans' locker room, the first thing the players did when they returned to the locker room was to wipe their sweat with towels.

High-intensity defense requires a lot of physical strength.

This was also the most difficult situation they had encountered since the start of the season.

Stevens glanced at his players.

Although he knew that the performance in the first half was related to mental relaxation, he didn't blame the players for their performance on the offensive end.

"Tang, you will be the primary defender against Durant in the second half."

Stevens said to Tang Tian.

His words caused Williams to be surprised.

Tang Tian was the Pelicans' offensive core, and he scored 20 points in the first half. Stevens actually asked him to defend Durant, this stamina…

"No problem."

Before Williams could speak, Tang Tian nodded.

Now the Pelicans' defensive strength was much stronger than last season. As long as he could hold Durant in the second half, the Thunder's offense would be finished.

"Ad, Nikola, Zhu, you have to stand up and score more. I believe you will adjust your condition in the second half."

Stevens then said to the other starters.

If he asked Tang Tian to defend Durant, he certainly wouldn't let Tang Tian be the main attacker.

If he didn't let Tang Tian go, then someone else had to go.

The others were in poor condition in the first half because of relaxation, but a half-time break was enough for them to adjust back.