The other teams also completed their roster cuts around the same time.

Among the three Chinese players, Guo Ailun was cut halfway through the preseason, and Ding Yanyuhang was also cut by the Mavericks at the last moment. Zhou Qi successfully stayed on the team.

As he had told Tang Tian, after being cut, Ding Yanyuhang signed a one-year contract with the Mavericks' affiliate team, the Texas Legends, in the NBA Development League to continue pursuing his dream.

On October 26th, after a long offseason, the curtain finally rose on the 2016-2017 NBA regular season.

There were a total of 10 games that day, with a key matchup in each conference: the Cavaliers versus the Raptors, and the Warriors versus the Spurs.

The Warriors-Spurs game was especially highly anticipated.

The Warriors had signed Durant in the summer and were the favorites to win the championship, while the Spurs had traded for Bogut to fill Duncan's void and still maintained their championship aspirations.

This was a head-to-head battle between two powerhouses.

The Pelicans' game was a day later, and because the two teams were major competitors, Tang Tian pulled Davis to watch the game live at the training center.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also appeared at the game.

With Duncan's retirement, Ginobili getting older, and Parker's team status declining, the Spurs' GDP era had basically come to an end.

The Spurs now had a dual-core lineup of Kawhi Leonard and Marcus Aldridge.

The game became a stalemate right after the opening tip.

In his sixth season, Leonard was already showing superstar potential.

Whether the Warriors used Iguodala or Green to defend him, they couldn't contain him well.

He and Durant entered a scoring duel from the start, with neither side able to stop the other.

At the end of the first quarter, the two teams were tied at 30.

The turning point of the game occurred in the second quarter, when Aldridge led the Spurs' bench to a scoring surge.

Thompson, who was leading the Warriors at that time, was having a bad shooting night, and the point difference quickly widened to double digits.

When the starters returned for both sides, the Warriors' integration problems began to appear.

The Splash Brothers plus Durant, three super shooters together, could be called a tsunami of points, but the shot priority of the three was a problem.

Curry was the type who relied on feeling and shot very casually.

Thompson was the opposite, someone who strictly followed the plays.

Before, the two complemented each other and meshed well.

But Durant's ability to score in set offenses was even stronger than the two of them.

In the first quarter, Durant was feeling good and was the main offensive force. In the second quarter, he probably felt like he was shooting too much, so he started to defer.

As a result, Curry and Thompson, knowing Durant was feeling good, also passed the ball to him.

The three were unclear about their offense and hesitated, which made them play poorly.

By halftime, the Spurs had taken advantage of the momentum and extended their lead to 18 points.

Durant joining the 73-win Warriors, who were expected by fans before the season to break the regular season record again, suffered a setback in the opening game.

Fans on the message boards collectively celebrated.

The Warriors forming a four-star lineup, although there was no behind-the-scenes manipulation involved, made fans of other teams very unhappy.

After all, they had already won 73 games and still signed Durant. It was like a billionaire winning the world's biggest lottery, which was quite hateful.

Now, being dominated by the Spurs was too satisfying.

However, Tang Tian and Davis were relatively calm. They had played against the Warriors for two years and knew that this team was not so easy to defeat.

Especially the third quarter, which had always been the Warriors' strength.

Sure enough, when the third quarter came, Aldridge's touch declined, and he missed several post-up attempts, allowing the Warriors to launch consecutive counterattacks.

The Warriors started their signature third quarter, quickly narrowing the score to single digits.

But the Spurs were not pushovers either. At the critical moment, Leonard began to show his superstar potential.

He first successfully defended Durant one-on-one, then forced a shot over Thompson, and then stole Green's pass for a one-man fast break dunk, directly igniting the AT&T Center.

Leonard's strong rise had gradually allowed San Antonio fans to emerge from the shadow of losing Tang Tian.

Spurs owner Holt smiled from ear to ear in the VIP box.

Everyone's eyes were on the Warriors and the Pelicans, but no one noticed that the Spurs after Leonard's rise were stronger than both of these teams!

Leonard's consecutive scores helped the Spurs stabilize their position, and the Warriors' third-quarter surge came to an abrupt end.

At the end of the third quarter, they were still trailing the Spurs by as many as 15 points!

Just as the game was about to become one-sided, Curry stepped up at the critical moment.

He hit consecutive long-range three-pointers at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring 8-0 individually, immediately narrowing the point difference to 7 points.

Popovich could suppress Kerr tactically, but Curry's unreasonable scoring made him somewhat caught off guard.

The 7-point difference was maintained for half a quarter, and the two sides entered a stalemate.

At the decisive moment, Curry and Durant exerted their strength continuously, narrowing the point difference to 2 points.

Leonard was still on the Spurs side, hitting a 2+1 against the double-team, scoring his 35th point of the game and widening the point difference to 5 points.

It was also at this time that a controversial call appeared on the court.

Curry's pass back was a mistake. When Green barely caught the ball, one of his feet landed in the backcourt, but the referee didn't blow the whistle!

Just as the Spurs players off the court were shouting at the referee and making backcourt gestures, Durant took the opportunity to make a key three-pointer.

Popovich was furious, but the referee didn't change the call, and the basket counted.

That wasn't all. After the two teams tied, Green's moving screen wasn't called, and Curry directly hit a three-pointer to kill the game.

In the end, the Warriors completed an 18-point comeback in the second half, narrowly defeating the Spurs 123-118, and got their season off to a winning start.

In the post-match interview, Popovich directly scolded the referee in front of reporters.

"They can't see as clearly as an old man of 70, they're either drunk or their eyes are in their asses!"

The old man was almost pissed off.

Tang Tian and Davis looked at each other after watching the game, and then smiled wryly at the same time.

It was obvious that the league was going to continue to support the Warriors.

But this was also expected.

Silver wasn't a fan of Tang Tian and the Pelicans in the first place, and now Durant's joining the Warriors gave him even more reason to support them.

But after laughing, Tang Tian and Davis began to practice extra.

Davis knew that defending the championship would be even more difficult in the new season, and Tang Tian had already decided that he would find an opportunity to take action against Silver.

While Tang Tian and Davis were training, fans on social media were already going crazy.

"Following last season's 'Warriors out of bounds', this game had 'Warriors no backcourt', 'Warriors no foul'..."

"You've successfully summarized the 'Warriors no rules'! Warriors championship!"

"This kind of ruling is really terrible, a clearly exciting game, in the end, becomes disgusting!"

"And it is indeed easy to be effective. When strong teams play against strong teams, the outcome may only be decided by those few possessions."

"This reminds me of the Finals last season. If it wasn't for Tang's super performance, the Finals might have been decided by the referees again!"

"I hope that tomorrow's game between the Pelicans and the Cavaliers won't have this kind of factor. League, what we need are exciting games!"