Davis secured the critical rebound, and the Pelicans advanced to the frontcourt, with Holiday passing the ball to Tang Tian.

With less than a minute remaining, it was a crucial possession, and it all depended on whether the Pelicans could seize the opportunity to tie or take the lead.

"Defense! Defense!"

The Staples Center crowd roared deafeningly.

Los Angeles, like New York, was a megacity, but the fans' enthusiasm here far surpassed that of New York.

Tang Tian dribbled against Miles, while Kobe on the weak side prepared to help defend.

After allowing Tang Tian one-on-one coverage for the entire game, they chose to double-team him during the crucial moment.

They didn't let him score freely earlier to help him pad his stats but didn't want the Pelicans' other players to get going.

Now that it was crunch time, they definitely wanted to force the ball out of Tang Tian's hands.

Role players were role players for a reason; their performance in critical moments was generally inferior to that of the team's core players.

Tang Tian didn't wait for Kobe to arrive before passing but instead made a crossover to the other side, then pulled up for a three-pointer.

He had missed nine shots in a row earlier because his stamina couldn't keep up, but his two consecutive makes indicated that his touch was good, and now he trusted his feel.

Miles lunged forward, putting pressure on the shot.

It was a difficult shot.

The ball flew over Miles' head, spinning towards the basket.

Everyone in the arena watched the spinning basketball.

This shot was absolutely crucial.

"Clang!"

The basketball hit the back of the rim and bounced high.

Miles' defense had played a role after all.

However, after bouncing up, the ball fell back down and landed in the net!

A lucky shot!

But more importantly, the ball went in!

105 to 103!

The Pelicans had taken the lead!

And after making that three-pointer, Tang Tian's score had reached 70 points!

The LED screen in the arena displayed Tang Tian's stats for the game.

70 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks, with no assists!

The final 35 seconds!

The Lakers called a timeout.

"Guys, I haven't seen such a crazy scoring performance in a long time!"

Smith said from the commentary booth; none of the three of them had ever scored 70+ points.

"But this is pure stat-padding; he's taken 47 shots so far, God!"

Barkley couldn't help but complain, as Tang Tian's shot attempts exceeded more than half of the Pelicans' entire team.

"And he's only made 23 shots. I remember Kobe had a game where he shot 17 for 47, right?"

O'Neal's Kobe-hating attributes began to surface again.

"Haha, yes, but Tang made six more shots than him."

Smith nodded.

"Okay, fine, that's not bad then."

O'Neal said with a smile, forcing himself to admit it.

However, despite the complaints, they still acknowledged Tang Tian's performance tonight.

After all, this wasn't just mindless stat-padding; the Pelicans were actually leading the Lakers.

Moreover, Tang Tian had far fewer offensive weapons than Kobe did back then, so shooting at nearly 50% accuracy was already incredible.

Back from the timeout, the Lakers theoretically had their last chance on offense; if they didn't score this time, they would have to resort to fouling.

Nash dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, turning his head to find Kobe.

"Slap!"

But at that moment, something happened that no one had expected.

As Miles set a screen for Kobe, because he was too close to Nash, Tang Tian, who was originally defending him, suddenly turned and darted towards Nash.

Then, with a ghostly hand, he stole the ball from Nash!

Everything happened so fast that by the time possession changed, the Pelicans had already called a timeout!

The final 30 seconds!

Nash patted his hands to indicate that it was his fault.

His ball-handling had always been stable, but he was 40 years old after all, and his reactions were definitely not as quick as they used to be, plus Tang Tian's steal was fast and accurate.

Because there were still 30 seconds left, the Lakers had to get a stop to have a chance of winning.

"Coach, let's play it this way."

Tang Tian pulled Williams aside and whispered to him as soon as he came off the court.

Back from the timeout, the Pelicans made a substitution, with Evans replacing Anderson.

It seemed that the Pelicans were preparing to attack the offensive glass.

Holiday dribbled the ball to the frontcourt; he wasn't in a hurry to give the ball to Tang Tian, keeping his back to Nash to kill time.

When the game reached the final 15 seconds, with the Pelicans' shot clock under 10 seconds, he finally signaled Tang Tian to come out.

Tang Tian received the ball, and the Lakers immediately double-teamed him.

With Evans on the court, the Pelicans were essentially playing 4-on-5, so they double-teamed without hesitation.

However, the Pelicans seemed to have anticipated the Lakers' move, and the instant before the double-team formed, Tang Tian kicked the ball out to Davis!

D'Antoni had been outsmarted by Tang Tian on this possession!

Davis had an opportunity when he received the ball; he had an open look at the free-throw line but didn't shoot, instead driving to the basket for a layup.

Howard lunged out, and there was contact between the two, Davis' shot after the contact.

"Clang!"

The ball bounced off the rim.

The Pelicans' play had worked, but the ball didn't go in!

Davis needed to strengthen his physique and have more confidence in his shot.

However, after Howard lunged out, Evans flew in and grabbed the offensive rebound!

The final 5 seconds.

Kobe was the first to react, shouting for Howard to foul.

But Evans was quick-witted and passed the ball to Tang Tian, who was flying in.

At this moment, it all came down to everyone's reaction speed!

After receiving the ball, Tang Tian quickly shot a fadeaway over Gasol.

Gasol held back, not daring to foul.

The ball soared over Gasol's head and fell towards the basket.

"Clang!"

The ball bounced off the rim.

The final 2 seconds!

Howard jumped first, going directly for the rebound.

But he was too fast, touching the ball before it left the rim.

"Beep!"

The baseline referee made an accurate call, immediately calling goaltending!

Although the shot didn't go in, it counted because of the goaltending!

Tang Tian's 72nd point!

The Pelicans led by 4 points!

Kobe was furious at this point, yelling directly at Howard.

This goaltending directly extinguished the Lakers' last hope.

With a little over 1 second left, trailing by 4 points, not even McGrady and Miller could save them.

Kobe's final three-pointer missed, and the Lakers ultimately lost 103-107.

After losing this game, they ultimately finished fourth in the Western Conference, failing to match up with the Pelicans.

But fourth wasn't bad either; at least they had home-court advantage.

"They won! Tang Tian got 72 points! He got 72 points!"

Zhang Weiping couldn't hide his excitement in the commentary booth at this moment, his body trembling slightly with excitement.

In this game, Tang Tian shot 24-for-48 from the field, 8-for-14 from three-point range, and 16-for-17 from the free-throw line, scoring 72 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks!

The 48 shot attempts were a bit exaggerated, and the 24 missed shots were also somewhat alarming, but he scored a solid 72 points!

Whether he was stat-padding or not wasn't even that important anymore, because he led his team to victory!

And unless Durant scored higher than 82 points in the game against the Bulls, he had already locked up this year's scoring title!