Chapter 1 "God, This Is The Most Exciting Game Of The Year!"

On the commentary booth, even the always calm Kenny Smith couldn't help but exclaim.

The two teams were playing with real intensity on the court, making it incredibly entertaining!

"Yes, there will be more and more games like this, the NBA will get better and better."

Shaquille O'Neal also sighed beside him.

As the strongest center of the early 2000s, only the current level of competition on the court could ignite his original desire to watch basketball, instead of mimicking Barkley's exaggerated expressions like he did before.

Around the 10-minute mark of the first quarter, both teams began to make substitutions.

At this point, the score was 26 to 16, with the Pelicans leading by 10 points.

Both teams showcased high-quality offense and defense, but under intense pressure, the Warriors' offensive efficiency was noticeably lower.

This was also expected, as the Splash Brothers and the Warriors themselves were products of the small-ball era.

With the change in officiating standards and increased physicality, the game relied more on the individual scoring ability of the star players, where the Warriors were slightly inferior.

Moreover, after the tide receded, Tang Tian's individual scoring ability was fully displayed.

In this quarter, he still managed to score 12 points under intense double-team defense, the highest in the game.

The Warriors were already down by 10 points before the end of the first quarter, putting them in a disadvantageous position.

The only good news was that Durant also had 8 points in the quarter; he didn't shrink back like he did in the Olympics, but instead carried the team on his shoulders.

Both teams rotated eight players each.

For the Pelicans, Jrue Holiday and Davis stayed on the court, while Brogdon, Bojan, and David West were substituted in.

For the Warriors, Curry and Green stayed on the court, while Livingston, Iguodala, and Marreese Speights were substituted in.

After Durant went off, Curry became the primary scorer. He made an off-ball cut, received a pass from Livingston, waited for Brogdon to react before shooting, drawing a three-point foul on the latter.

Under intense pressure, Curry's three-point accuracy faltered, but he was smart, using his experience to draw a foul and teach Brogdon a lesson.

You are a mature rookie, but in the end, you are still just a rookie, and you will always need a process of accumulating experience.

Curry steadily made all three free throws, narrowing the score difference to 7 points for the Warriors.

Back on the other end, Davis posted up for a low-post backdown.

Bojan ran around a screen on the weak side, West and Speights collided and fell. He ran out and got an open look.

Davis's pass was timely, but unfortunately, his shot went wide, hitting the rim and bouncing high, with Green securing the rebound.

Under intense pressure, it wasn't just the defense encountered at the moment of the shot, but also the previous physical contact that affected the final shot result.

This was why everyone was a sharpshooter in the small-ball era, with high shooting percentages, while even the top three-point shooters in the early 2000s only had a little over 40%.

For catch-and-shooters like Bojan and Thompson, they needed to work hard to adapt.

After Green grabbed the rebound, he dribbled twice to advance the ball, then threw a long pass to Curry in the frontcourt. Curry squeezed past Holiday's defense for a layup, doing a reverse layup in the air.

The degree of difficulty of the shot was very high, but Curry's ability was on full display, and he managed to make the difficult reverse layup!

Curry personally unleashed a 5-0 run, narrowing the score difference to 5 points.

Stevens walked to the sideline and looked up at the time. With just over a minute left in the quarter, calling a timeout would be meaningless.

He shouted to the court and made a new tactical gesture.

Holiday, after reaching the frontcourt, signaled to spread out, then directly passed the ball to Davis for a low-post isolation play.

Early 2000s basketball, the stage for superstar players, it depended on whether Davis had grown in these four years.

Green had a very low center of gravity behind him, which was one of his defensive characteristics, a stable lower body.

Davis didn't try to force it; after a series of spins, he chose to bank in a shot.

He couldn't shake off Green, and Green's outstretched hand interfered with the shot, causing the basketball to hit the rim and bounce out!

But before Green could grab the defensive rebound, Davis beat him to it, directly tipping the ball into the basket with one hand!

Height, wingspan, talent crushing!

Davis had thought about rebounding for the putback the moment he took the initial shot!

A crucial two points, the Pelicans broke their scoring drought!

Curry ran off-ball continuously in the frontcourt. Although he staggered under the physical pressure, he still used his excellent mobility to find an opportunity to cut straight to the basket.

Green made a beautiful bounce pass through the defense, and Curry caught the ball and attempted a close-range floater.

But just as he released the shot, Davis leaped up and blocked Curry's shot directly onto the backboard!

A chase-down block!

Davis also managed to secure the defensive rebound!

A burst of cheers erupted from the crowd.

Davis's performance was quite remarkable on both ends of the court!

Although his strength hadn't reached Tang Tian's level, he wasn't far off!

For the last possession of the first quarter, Holiday held the ball until about 10 seconds remained on the clock.

He was about to call for Davis to set a pick-and-roll to initiate the offense, but after looking up and seeing Speights guarding him, he directly lobbed the ball to Davis.

Davis caught the ball and saw Green about to double-team him. After using a fake pass to force Green back, he exerted force and directly bumped Speights away to the basket.

Speights was tough, directly pulling Davis down with a tug.

It was a clear foul, and the baseline referee quickly blew the whistle.

But Davis still completed the shot with a fold in the air after the whistle blew.

A high bank shot, the ball grazed the backboard and went into the net!

And-one!

His second and-one of the quarter!

With only 2 seconds remaining in the quarter!

The cheers in the arena erupted again.

Tang Tian also stood up from the bench at this moment, waving his fist in Davis's direction.

The shy little boy from three years ago, the boy who cried two years ago because he was eliminated by the Grizzlies, the person who was full of unwillingness a year ago because he was eliminated by the Warriors.

Davis had finally grown to be able to stand alone!

His Pippen had finally grown up!

Davis adjusted his breathing and calmly made the free throw, personally unleashing a 5-0 run to once again help the Pelicans extend their lead to 10 points!

Curry's last ultra-long three-pointer was disrupted by Holiday.

The first quarter ended, with the Pelicans continuing to lead the Warriors by 10 points at 31 to 21.

When Davis came off the court, Tang Tian went over and bumped fists with him, hugged him, and then reached out to pat his hair.

"Your mohawk is very cool."

After patting his hair, Tang Tian said with a smile.

Duncan had said this to him before, but Duncan didn't say the sentence after that, which was a little too much hair gel.

Davis nodded with a smile, not knowing why he felt so good about being patted on the head this time.

In the second quarter, both sides further rotated their lineups. Stephenson replaced Holiday for the Pelicans, and Macaw replaced Curry for the Warriors.

But besides Macaw, there was another substitution on the Warriors' side.

Kerr put Pachulia back on the court after he had only rested for two minutes.