Tang Tian laughed along with the bench.

Stephenson was similar to McGee, but for completely different reasons.

McGee had attention deficit, but Stephenson was more about doing whatever came to mind on the court.

Sometimes his actions were creative, and sometimes they seemed downright stupid.

But Stevens' approach was spot-on, reducing his ball-handling time to cover up the stupid side and letting him unleash his creative side.

However, even during the bench rotation, Stephenson wasn't the Pelicans' main focus on the court.

After Bojan entered the starting lineup, Dinwiddie was now the team's sixth man.

As Nash's disciple, he was doing a great job, not only controlling the situation well but also using his ability to break through and score from time to time.

As the bench rotation passed, the Rockets didn't close the gap as they had last time; the point difference on the court remained at 13 points.

When this bench rotation ended, Tang Tian returned, and the game returned to the pattern of the first quarter.

Double-teaming or not, he was unstoppable.

At the end of the first half, the Pelicans led the Rockets by a large margin, 60 to 42.

Breen and Miller were practically singing Tang Tian's praises at the commentary desk.

The Rockets had been in hot form since the All-Star break, and the opponents they had defeated were even more impressive than the Pelicans'.

As they had said at the beginning of the game, this was supposed to be a close match.

But Tang Tian had single-handedly changed the game.

16 points, 4 rebounds, and 12 assists in the first half.

Tang Tian was taking fewer shots than in previous games, but the entire Pelicans team had been activated.

In the locker room during halftime, D'Antoni and Bzdelik looked worried.

In the last game, Cousins' temper had cost them the game, and they were unwilling to accept the loss.

But in this game, they simply couldn't do anything about Tang Tian.

Their defense was being penetrated at will, and their offense was out of rhythm.

And what worried them even more than losing this game was that if the Rockets aimed to win the championship, the Pelicans would definitely be a hurdle they had to overcome.

If they couldn't solve the problem of defending Tang Tian now, they would still be tormented in the playoffs.

As they were discussing, the door to the coach's office was knocked open, and Paul walked in.

"Let me guard Tang."

Paul took the initiative to volunteer to D'Antoni after entering.

Back when Paul was with the Clippers, he had once defended Durant one-on-one.

Although there was a big height difference, he used his defensive skills to keep Durant's offensive efficiency low.

The Rockets' wing defense was definitely stronger now than the Clippers' back then, but the result was the same: they couldn't stop him.

D'Antoni nodded. Double-teaming was meaningless against Tang Tian's passing, and one-on-one defense didn't work either, so putting Paul on him was the last resort.

Paul left after discussing the details with D'Antoni.

"If Chris doesn't work, our only option is to wear him down."

After Paul left, Bzdelik said to D'Antoni.

No matter how great a superstar is, stamina is always an issue, so choosing to wear him down was the last option if they couldn't defend him.

D'Antoni nodded in agreement.

However, Tang Tian's defensive strength was also very high, and the Pelicans weren't the same team they were two years ago; Tang Tian wasn't the only strong player.

If they couldn't score against Tang Tian and the other Pelicans exploded, then the game might be over in three quarters.

So, he was still hoping that Paul's defense would work.

The Pelicans attacked first in the second half.

Tang Tian held the ball in the frontcourt and then realized that his defender had become Paul.

1. 83 meters guarding 2.03 meters, a full 20-centimeter height difference; only Paul could defend like that.

Paul used oppressive defense against Tang Tian, with all sorts of small moves.

That was his defensive characteristic; that's how he made Durant uncomfortable back then.

His goal was also clear: he didn't want to give Tang Tian the offensive space to use his triple threat, or force Tang Tian to dribble against his will.

That was very smart.

But Tang Tian had no intention of fighting him like that at all; he directly turned his back and started backing down Paul from beyond the three-point line.

Paul was a guard after all, and no matter how many small moves he had, he was still afraid of this kind of hard pounding. Tang Tian pushed him to the free-throw line like a bulldozer.

Cousins saw this and came in to help, but Tang Tian turned around and passed the ball with a flick of his hand. The ball had already flown into Jokic's hands on the outside.

Jokic caught the ball and fired from the outside, hitting the shot.

If this had been the first game after the All-Star break, he might not have been able to shoot so decisively.

But after so many games, he had already adapted.

The more decisive he was, the higher his shooting percentage.

Jokic's three-pointer went in, Tang Tian's personal assist count rose to 13, and the Pelicans widened the point difference to 21 points.

There was a commotion in the arena; the game was already over in three quarters.

Paul patiently spoke to Cousins at this time, telling him not to double-team.

Although Cousins wasn't happy, he accepted it.

In the next offensive possession for the Rockets, Harden showed his personal ability, hitting his signature step-back three-pointer against Holiday's defense and narrowing the point difference back to 18 points.

In the next round, Tang Tian continued to pound Paul hard in the frontcourt. Paul was pushed into the restricted area with no resistance and had no choice but to foul.

Tang Tian wasn't Durant; his physicality and style of play were much tougher than Durant's, so Paul's defensive methods were ineffective against him.

Tang Tian stepped onto the free-throw line and steadily made both free throws, widening the point difference back to 20 points.

Harden made another layup on a breakthrough; his touch in the second half was much better than in the first half.

Turning around, Tang Tian continued to attack Paul. Paul tried to steal the ball, and Tang Tian took the opportunity to turn around and make a fadeaway shot.

One possession didn't mean anything, two possessions might be luck, but after three possessions in a row, D'Antoni already knew that Paul couldn't defend Tang Tian either.

Although he was very reluctant, the Rockets only had one last choice left.

D'Antoni made a tactical gesture on the sideline; the Rockets began to use Harden to attack Tang Tian.

Harden's touch was good during this stretch, which was a positive sign for the Rockets.

But Harden was defended on his first possession against Tang Tian.

The facts proved Tang Tian's defensive ability; if he wanted to defend, he was the league's best defensive player.

The Rockets insisted on attacking Tang Tian on offense. After Tang Tian put his energy into the defensive end, he focused more on organizing the offense on the offensive end.

His scoring didn't increase much, but his assist count continued to rise.

He could always find and seize the fleeting opportunities on the court, sending the ball to the teammate who had the best chance to score.

Just like Nash, who came with his own system.

Although sometimes the passes were a bit off, and teammates would miss some opportunities after catching the ball, the overall feeling was that the Pelicans were playing easier than ever before.

At the end of the third quarter, the Rockets' strategy had completely failed.

The Rockets' forceful attacks on Tang Tian on offense were inefficient, and on defense, they stopped Tang Tian but not the other Pelicans. At the end of the third quarter, they were already trailing by nearly 30 points.

Bzdelik's core advice was to wear him down, but after three quarters, it was completely meaningless, because the fourth quarter became complete garbage time.

And Tang Tian, who punched out in this quarter, delivered 8 assists, and had 21 points, 20 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals...

ps: The photos have been posted in the book review area... but it seems that only the Qidian mobile client can see them, the webpage can't see them...