Davis adjusted his breathing and made the free throw.

7 to 9.

After experiencing a loss of focus at the start, the Pelicans finally got back into the game.

Parker's spinning layup under the basket was interfered with by Davis and missed. Whiteside secured the defensive rebound.

Ariza's catch-and-shoot three-pointer was contested by Leonard and missed. Gasol boxed out Whiteside and grabbed the rebound.

After the opening exchanges of offense and defense, the situation on the court began to stagnate.

The Spurs were strong this season, but the Pelicans' ability to rank second in the West also relied on their own strength.

As long as they played normally, they had the capital to fight the Spurs.

At the end of the first quarter, the two sides tied at 23.

If the previous teams they played weren't enough to prove the point, then the Pelicans' performance in this quarter was eye-catching.

At the start of the second quarter, both sides' starters were resting on the bench.

The Spurs were led by Ginobili, along with Joseph, Belinelli, Diaw, and Baynes.

The Pelicans were led by Jokic, along with Cole, Gordon, Morrow, and Aminu.

The Spurs attacked first, but Belinelli's catch-and-shoot three-pointer missed.

Jokic secured the defensive rebound.

In the frontcourt, Jokic facilitated at the free-throw line, passing the ball to Gordon for a layup.

"Beep!"

Just then, a whistle sounded from the sidelines. It turned out that the Spurs had called a timeout!

The teammates on the court were stunned for a moment.

The second quarter had only been played for two possessions, less than half a minute, and the Spurs had already called a timeout?!

Tang Tian, sitting on the sidelines, was also a little dazed, but when he turned his head and saw Popovich's unhappy face, he seemed to understand.

This old man had even committed a "Hack-a-Shaq" foul six seconds into the game, so there was nothing he couldn't do.

Because the tactics had just been arranged during the break, Williams only reminded the players to pay more attention to defense.

After the timeout, the Spurs attacked.

They suddenly stopped using the Hammer play. Joseph directly called for a pick-and-roll with Baynes, and after the switch, he attacked Jokic.

Jokic had been losing weight recently, and his control over his body wasn't good. During the chase, his block hit Joseph's hand.

Joseph got two free throws.

He made both free throws under pressure, and the Spurs tied the score again.

Back on the defensive end, the Spurs focused on guarding against the Pelicans' off-ball plays. Jokic's facilitation didn't work, so he turned around and attacked Baynes.

Baynes was burly and had a tough defense, and he stopped Jokic's strong attack.

The Spurs advanced to the frontcourt, and Ginobili also pulled Baynes for a pick-and-roll, continuing to attack Jokic after the switch.

His snake-like breakthrough successfully shook off Jokic, and he scored with a layup under the basket.

Once he conceded a foul, and once he was shaken off. It was clear that Jokic had been targeted by the Spurs.

When Jokic came to the Pelicans, Tang Tian was worried that he would be targeted because of his defensive issues, so he had him start losing weight early.

Now that the weight loss wasn't complete, he faced the Spurs in advance, and Popovich gave him a "rookie wall" gift.

Cole's catch-and-shoot layup was interfered with by Embiid, and Diaw's footwork under the basket drew another reach-in foul on Jokic.

Williams called Reggie Evans up.

In this game, Jokic was being targeted too obviously by the Spurs and wouldn't have many chances.

Although Popovich called a timeout just two possessions into the second quarter, looking back, the timing of this timeout was perfect.

With Jokic unable to play, the Pelicans' bench firepower couldn't keep up. The Spurs expanded their lead to 8 points with several waves of offense and defense.

Williams called a timeout, and after the timeout, he gradually substituted the starters back into the game.

Tang Tian scored a step-back three-pointer as soon as he came back on, but Gasol immediately responded with a long two-pointer at the free-throw line.

Davis scored with a strong attack under the basket, and Green then made a three-pointer after receiving a handoff from Gasol.

After a season of training last season, Green and Leonard had both grown to the strength of the Spurs team in the 13-14 season in history.

Plus Gasol, the Spurs this year were really strong.

At the end of the first half, the Spurs led the Pelicans 53-41.

This was the most difficult half the Pelicans had encountered since the start of the season.

During the halftime break, both teams' players gradually returned to the locker room.

The atmosphere in the Pelicans' locker room was a bit dull.

Previously, they had only lost one game to the Celtics, but in that game, they lost because of a loss of form in the last quarter, which was different from the current situation of being suppressed.

This was also the characteristic of a young team, with all their emotions written on their faces.

Tang Tian wasn't too surprised by his teammates' reaction.

Last season, the Pelicans had just formed the team, and the whole team was full of energy. They didn't think about anything, they just did it. Losing wasn't a loss, and winning was a gain.

That was truly a case of newborn calves not fearing tigers.

But after their strength came up this season, everyone had expectations for their results, and their inner thoughts were definitely different.

This was a good thing, after all, it was impossible to win a championship by relying solely on brute force.

It was just that the current situation was a bit depressing.

"Guys."

Tang Tian stood up at this time.

When he spoke, everyone else in the locker room turned their attention to him.

He was now the team's leader and the soul of the team.

"You know what? When Coach Williams said last season that our goal was the championship, I supported him, but I couldn't imagine what it would look like when we won, because we were really still a distance away from the championship at that time.

But when he said that again after training camp this season, I already had that picture in my mind, the same picture I had when I was in San Antonio, because this season, we really have that strength."

After Tang Tian finished these two sentences, some of the players nodded and some smiled.

It was clear that Tang Tian's words resonated with them.

"But the road to the championship is always full of difficulties and setbacks."

He suddenly changed the subject when he said this.

"Our game against the Spurs isn't just about this one game, or rather, we shouldn't be focusing on the outcome of this one game."

He emphasized as he said this.

"If we want to win the championship, we will definitely encounter the Spurs in the playoffs, whether it's in the semi-finals or the finals, we will definitely meet them.

At that time, we will be playing a series, 7 games.

They are the strongest team this season, and Popovich is the most experienced and capable coach.

Believe me, we will definitely experience situations more difficult than the one we are facing now.

If we want to beat them, one game, two games, a series, what we must learn is how to play this kind of game.

We must have a firm heart, a heart that focuses on every detail, a heart that never gives up, and only by doing everything perfectly can we defeat them.

And they don't just mean the Spurs, maybe other teams that are even stronger than the Spurs.

Guys, this is the road to the championship."