Cousins was depressed, very depressed, extremely depressed.

During Xiao Hua's era, he was dragged out for military training, and now in Tatum's era, he still can't avoid this experience!

It seems that it wasn't Xiao Hua who made him experience this, but the damn small-ball era.

No, it's this damn Tang Tian!

How could this guy shoot so accurately and break through so fiercely? He's simply a monster!

In all his years of playing basketball, including in the NCAA, he'd never seen such a perverted guy.

This guy was like a cheat!

In the first half of the first quarter, both sides engaged in various tactical games, and the rotations were also targeted.

But in the second half, it turned into Tang Tian one-on-one against Cousins, and the Rockets one-on-one against Jokic.

The two traditional centers were dragged out for various military training exercises, enjoying the feeling of running on a summer beach ahead of time.

But obviously, the Pelicans' scoring efficiency was higher.

Tang Tian's advantage was too great when playing small against big.

Cousins was about to explode.

In this quarter, Tang Tian scored 14 points against "Boogie" alone, truly charging in and out seven times, leaving a trail of crimson.

The Rockets also trailed the Pelicans by a double-digit margin, 22 to 32, in this quarter.

In the second quarter, during the transition period for the substitutes, Gordon was in hot form, but Williams and Bojan finally found their rhythm on the Pelicans' side.

When the starters returned, the score was 30 to 40, still a 10-point difference.

When the Rockets' offense resumed after the timeout, Paul continued to mismatch against Jokic.

Although Harden was being heavily guarded by Tang Tian, Paul returned to New Orleans and had a lot of opportunities to shoot, but his strength obviously wasn't what it used to be.

In the first offensive possession after coming on, his hand wasn't warm yet, and his shot hit the front of the rim and bounced out, and Davis grabbed the rebound.

Back on the other end, Tang Tian continued to attack Cousins.

Cousins mobilized all the cells in his body, using all his strength to keep up with Tang Tian's steps, but was almost faked out and fell over.

"Swish!"

Tang Tian shook him off and steadily hit a pull-up jumper.

After charging in and out seven times, "Boogie's" desperate resistance didn't work, and Tang Tian continued to score at will.

Paul attacked Jokic again, but his shot still didn't go in. His touch had dropped compared to the first quarter.

Back on the other end, Tang Tian continued to attack Cousins. This time, he dribbled low and faked enough times, and Cousins, eager to prove himself, lost control of his center of gravity and fell directly to the ground!

Tang Tian waited for Cousins to get up and then shot again!

Another 4-0 run, and the point difference had reached 14 points!

Cousins' eyes were red as he got up. He noticed D'Antoni shaking his head on the sidelines.

Obviously, he had become a laughingstock tonight.

In the Rockets' offense, Paul still looked for Cousins to run a pick-and-roll, but this time he went outside and passed the ball to Cousins.

Although Paul's offensive ability wasn't as good as his peak, his court control and passing were even stronger than during his prime.

Cousins got the ball, furiously bumped into Holiday, and slammed the ball heavily into the basket with both hands.

He was full of anger, and after a successful dunk, he hung on the rim for a while before landing, and then pounded his chest and roared.

This dunk felt great!

The cheers at the scene also exploded.

This ball was much more satisfying than simply scoring a two-pointer.

Back on the other end, Tang Tian attacked Cousins again.

Deafening cheers erupted from the audience.

"Defense! Defense!"

The fans were all cheering for Cousins this time.

Nothing is impossible, even if it seems out of reach, there is hope as long as you work hard!

They believed Cousins could do it!

Cousins did the same, and this time he rarely kept up with Tang Tian's rhythm.

Tang Tian's first series of fakes didn't shake off Cousins.

Even though he had an advantage in speed, dribbling low was only a blue skill after all.

But his offense was obviously more than just faking people out. He relied on precise timing to explode with a step of acceleration, followed by a sharp change of direction.

Cousins couldn't keep up, even though he was going all out.

Tang Tian pulled back for a sudden stop jumper.

Just then, an accident happened.

Cousins really tried hard to defend. When Tang Tian made a sharp change of direction, he followed with a sharp change of direction.

His head kept up, but with his huge weight, his feet didn't.

When he tried to pounce on Tang Tian at the end, he exerted too much force, and his left foot twisted after pushing off the ground, and he fell to the ground in pain.

Tang Tian's shot missed this time, and Cousins' desperate defense still had an effect.

But whether it went in or not didn't matter anymore at this point. After Cousins fell to the ground, D'Antoni immediately called a timeout.

Cousins looked pained, and after holding his ankle for a while, he turned over and pounded the floor hard with his right hand.

Obviously, he had twisted it badly.

The team doctor quickly came on the court, and after communicating, a wheelchair was brought onto the court.

They helped Cousins into the wheelchair, and the team doctor quickly sent him back to the locker room.

This situation came very suddenly, and no one expected it.

Including Tang Tian, he was just trying to get rid of him normally.

Moreover, when Cousins was injured, there was no physical contact between the two.

It could only be said that the intensity of the series was too high, and with the cheers of the fans on the sidelines, Cousins wanted to defend the ball too much, which led to excessive force.

This was an accident, completely different from Leonard being injured by Pachulia's foot.

But similarly, Cousins' injury greatly weakened the Rockets, and they could only use the inexperienced Capela, and the Pelicans further widened the score.

The current Capela was much weaker than the historical Capela of the same period.

Players are developed through playing time and ball possession. As Cousins' substitute, Capela had limited playing time, and you couldn't expect him to suddenly figure things out.

In the end, the Rockets still failed to win a victory at home and lost 91-106.

After losing this game, they were 0-3 behind the Pelicans in the series, just like last year.

But the data and score of this game were no longer that important, because after Leonard, another superstar was injured.

This year's playoffs were a bit tragic.

And when the MRI report came out the next day, Cousins' situation was much more serious than Leonard's.

Achilles tendon rupture.

These four words were a nightmare for basketball players.

This type of injury requires at least eight months of recovery time after surgery.

Of course, that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that the Achilles tendon couldn't exert its full strength after the injury.

In other words, this was equivalent to the athlete losing most of their jumping ability.

In the NBA, where athletic ability is everywhere, this was absolutely fatal.

There have been many players in NBA history who have suffered Achilles tendon injuries, the most well-known being "The Smiling Assassin" Isiah Thomas and "The Captain" Elton Brand.

The former's career ended prematurely, while the latter went from an All-Star to an average player.

This examination result was even more of a nightmare for the Rockets, meaning that their Big Three lineup was over at this moment.

Not just now, but also in the future.