"Oh! My God!"

The commentator was stunned.

This was Tang Tian's third dunk in a row!

And the third time was a self alley-oop.

That was Tracy McGrady's signature dunk!

Tang Tian had performed it once before during the Nike China tour, but this was in a real game!

On the Thunder's offense, Westbrook's strong attack was disrupted by Davis' help defense.

In the past two games, Westbrook had averaged over 35 points, but his shooting percentage was just over 40%, making him inefficient.

The Pelicans launched another fast break, and again it was Tang Tian, ​​racing to the frontcourt and slamming the ball into the basket with a tomahawk dunk.

Fourth consecutive dunk!

He was addicted to dunking!

9 to 4!

The Thunder called a timeout!

Durant rose from the bench, his expression complex.

After watching that, he was sure that Tang Tian didn't learn that playing style from Westbrook, because it was clearly stronger.

He was originally confident about coming back to play against Tang Tian, ​​but now he had some doubts.

When the timeout ended, Westbrook passed to Jones, whose shot was blocked by Ariza; he was 0 for 3 since the start of the game.

However, the Pelicans' counterattack failed, Adams secured the defensive rebound and threw it long to Westbrook.

Westbrook sprinted in a straight line, his feet moving quickly, and dribbled forward, shaking off Holiday, who was chasing him without the ball!

His speed with the ball on a fast break looked faster than Wade!

"Boom!"

Westbrook rushed to the frontcourt and scored with a lightning dunk.

This was a real back-and-forth dunking contest with Tang Tian, ​​a bombing duel.

Holiday dribbled to the frontcourt and ran the set offense. At this time, the Thunder's defensive strategy obviously changed, and they began to play a 2-3 zone.

This was a completely logical reaction. After being dunked on repeatedly by Tang Tian, ​​and with both sides not feeling their shots, collapsing the defense was a natural choice.

The Pelicans passed the ball around the perimeter, and Holiday took a three-point shot.

"Swish!"

The basketball went into the net.

The Pelicans retreated to their half, and Williams shouted something to the Pelicans players on the court. The Pelicans also began to collapse their defense.

The Thunder passed the ball around the perimeter, and Westbrook took a three-point shot from the outside.

"Swish!"

The basketball went in, kissing the net.

Perhaps Tang Tian and Westbrook's alternating dunks had straightened the hoop, and both sides finally started making shots.

The Thunder continued to collapse, and this time Ariza took the shot, but it was a bit off and didn't go in.

Ibaka, Whiteside, Adams, and Davis engaged in a melee under the basket.

In the end, Adams broke through and secured the defensive rebound.

The Thunder attacked to the frontcourt, Westbrook caught the ball and faked a three-pointer, then took a step and hit a mid-range pull-up jumper.

"Swish!"

Not counting those two dunks, he was 1 for 4 from the field tonight, but now he had hit consecutive mid-to-long range shots, finally finding his touch.

11 to 12, the point difference was reduced to only 1 point.

At this time, the first quarter was about 9 minutes in, and both sides began to rotate their players.

During the starting lineup phase, it was like a brawl on the court, but in the bench phase, the intensity of the game clearly dropped, and it turned into an offensive battle.

Jackson on the Thunder and Gordon on the Pelicans were both feeling it, and the score remained close.

At the end of the first half, the Pelicans led the Thunder by a narrow margin of 45 to 40.

During halftime, Tang Tian made a tactical suggestion to Williams: double-team Westbrook.

With Durant out, Westbrook was the Thunder's biggest offensive threat.

Double-teaming him was like grabbing a snake by its vital spot.

At the start of the game, Jones was on the court, after all, he had averaged over 15 points in the previous two games.

But after the first half, Jones proved to be limited, which allowed the Pelicans to decide to double-team.

And with Roberson, who had defense but no three-point shot, one tactic was to collapse and the other was to double-team, targeting them to death.

Coming back in the second half, Tang Tian made a pull-up three-pointer.

He had a great time dunking in the first half, but only made 5 of 10 shots.

Taking away the dunks, he was 1 for 6 from the field, not feeling his shot at all.

With that three-pointer, he finally regained his touch in the second half.

On the Thunder's offense, as soon as Westbrook dribbled the ball, the Pelicans double-teamed him.

Tang Tian ignored Roberson and switched to defend Jones directly.

Westbrook passed the ball to Roberson, who didn't dare to shoot from outside the three-point line.

The ball went back to Westbrook, and the Pelicans continued to double-team.

And knowing that Westbrook's first step was fast, Ariza's defensive position was obviously further back.

Even the current Tang Tian couldn't get past that kind of double-team.

This was the Pelicans' advantage now. Last season they only had Holiday, but this season they had Holiday and Ariza.

No perimeter player could withstand those two double-teaming.

Westbrook had no choice but to pass the ball to Roberson again.

Roberson shot a three-pointer from outside the line, and the ball was wildly off, hitting the right side of the rim and bouncing out.

Davis secured the defensive rebound.

On the Pelicans' frontcourt offense, Tang Tian was also double-teamed.

The Thunder used their own tactics against them.

Tang Tian passed the ball to Ariza, who took a three-point shot.

"Swish!"

The basketball went into the net cleanly.

Ariza wasn't Roberson, he really had a three-point shot.

With two three-pointers, the Pelicans pulled the point difference to 11 points.

The fans on the sidelines whistled constantly, the Pelicans were playing much easier in the second half than in the first half!

The Thunder substituted during a dead ball, with Lamb replacing Roberson.

Brooks' reaction was quick.

The Thunder attacked to the frontcourt, the Pelicans continued to double-team, and Tang Tian went to defend Lamb.

Westbrook passed the ball to Jones.

Jones took another three-point shot from outside the line.

Ariza interfered on the closeout.

"Clang!"

Missed!

Jones was 0 for 7 in this game so far!

This was the reason for the Thunder's past losing streak.

Some teams, like the Spurs, can still perform well even if their core players are out, because Popovich has his own tactical system.

But the Thunder can't. The Thunder's tactical system is built on Westbrook and Durant's isolations.

This became especially obvious after Harden was traded away.

The Thunder had never been able to find a suitable playmaker for the team.

Although Jones could make up for the scoring to some extent, he could not replace Durant's tactical position.

Not to mention that he was completely lost after being defended by Ariza in the first half, his touch ice cold.

There was no one on the Thunder who could stand up and share the pressure for Westbrook.

This became the key to the game. Although Westbrook played the entire second half, he scored continuously during the bench phase.

But in the second half of the fourth quarter, his stamina was clearly not enough, and the Pelicans successfully closed out the game.

In the end, the Pelicans defeated the Thunder 91-79 at home, achieving a three-game winning streak after the start of the season.