The Pelicans' record reached 58 wins and 4 losses after defeating the Heat.

With a little over a month and 20 games left in the regular season, the probability of the Pelicans breaking the regular-season record continued to increase.

And after returning to New Orleans, they received more good news.

Ariza's ankle injury was recovering well, and he had begun non-contact training with the ball, with the hope of officially returning at the end of March.

Bojan performed very well during Ariza's absence, but Ariza's wing defense was irreplaceable.

This would be especially important in the playoffs, and his return would greatly help the Pelicans.

The day after returning to New Orleans, the Pelicans faced the Clippers for the second time this season.

The Pelicans had a poor shooting performance as a team in this game, as if their own basket was covered.

Clippers' substitute Louis Williams exploded, scoring a season-high 37 points to help the Clippers win the game.

It was an unexpected loss, but it was also part of the season.

The Pelicans were not machines after all, and it was impossible for them to win every game. Occasionally, there would be times when their condition and feel were not good.

However, after winning the game, Austin Rivers, who had played for the Pelicans and scored 13 points and 3 assists in this game, seemed very excited.

"We know they're not as strong as people think, we know we can beat them with defense, we knew we could win, this was an expected victory, it proves we were underestimated by everyone."

Austin Rivers' attitude showed that he still minded being traded by the Pelicans.

And beating the league's number one Pelicans was exciting enough.

But he was obviously too excited.

Saying "We knew we could win, this was an expected victory" was obviously too much.

Many Pelicans players did extra training after the game, and they were quite speechless when they saw this news.

Speaking of Whiteside before, and now Austin Rivers, these former Pelicans players were very dissatisfied with the Pelicans.

But this dissatisfaction was understandable.

The Pelicans had become stronger and stronger in the past two years, not by signing players, but by relying on drafts and their own cultivation and growth.

In this process, some people would definitely be eliminated, whether it was Whiteside or Austin Rivers, they were all of this type.

When they saw the Pelicans playing so well now, they would definitely have thoughts in their minds, such as I should be a part of it, etc.

Stephenson also did extra training. He was so angry when he saw it that he was waiting to start a war of words tomorrow.

But this time he didn't wait for him. Ariza, who was about to return, struck first, posting a status on his personal Twitter.

"you.know.nothing."

And he also @ed the Clippers' official Twitter.

This sentence was said by Ygritte, a wildling, to Jon Snow in the fifth season of the popular TV series "Game of Thrones."

The direct translation is that you (you) don't understand anything, or you (you) don't know anything.

Austin Rivers said a lot of "we know" in the interview, and Ariza's response with this American TV series line was simply ingenious.

In the next day's training class, the players laughed at Ariza.

This kind of response was more interesting than any war of words.

This also made Austin Rivers very angry, and he didn't even know how to respond.

Having won the war of words, the Pelicans players were in a great mood.

However, at the pre-match training class, they also put this matter aside and trained with 100% effort.

Just like Stevens said when the 25-game winning streak was ended at the beginning of the season, losing the game properly was not a bad thing for the team, it could help them unload their psychological burden.

But after losing the game, they needed to adjust their condition and show enough focus to meet the next game.

Now they were doing just that.

Their next game was against the Thunder.

The schedule was sweet for a while after the All-Star Game, and now the devil schedule was still continuing.

What was beneficial to the Pelicans was that this game would be played in New Orleans, which could allow them to wait for work at leisure.

The Thunder's condition had not been good after the All-Star Game. Not only was the schedule a problem, but Durant's condition was also a problem.

Especially his offensive desire, which was much lower than at the beginning of the season.

After arriving in New Orleans, the Pelicans arranged an open training class.

Durant was in a bad mood and did not accept media interviews. Westbrook was worried that Durant would say something casually and returned to the locker room early after saying a few words.

The reporters had no choice but to point the microphone at the team's head coach Donovan.

Stevens, as a coach from the NCAA, led the Pelicans to dominate, while Donovan, who was also from the NCAA, had been questioned by fans.

"We have played against each other in the NCAA, and I know his coaching style, which will be very helpful to us."

"But the Thunder lost last time."

"..."

Donovan behaved confidently, but he was obviously still a little inexperienced in dealing with reporters.

"How will you defend Tang?"

A reporter asked a question that was now a must-ask.

"We don't need to consider this question. We will play our own offense and naturally win the game."

"Do you mean you haven't studied this question?"

"Of course not, we will use help defense and rotation and will not give him too many scoring opportunities."

Donovan quickly defended himself. There were many people outside who criticized him for not knowing tactics.

"But in that case, his passing can revitalize the entire Pelicans team."

The reporter asked.

In fact, reporters would ask this kind of question every time, but the answers they got were basically polite words, because this was a problem for all teams in the league.

"We won't let him do that, our defensive rotation speed is very fast."

Donovan emphasized.

"We know that the first team to do this was the Rockets, and Tang sent out 20 assists in three quarters."

The reporter reminded.

"We won't let him get 20 assists, that's impossible. They didn't even have 20 assists as a team in the last game they lost to the Clippers."

Donovan said firmly.

That night, the New Orleans Arena was packed.

The Tang-Durant showdown, a matchup that fans never tire of watching.

And as Pelicans and Tang fans, Tang had now surpassed Durant in strength, which was even more worth watching.

During the pre-match warm-up, the scene gave split-screen shots of Durant and Tang.

Durant still looked a little absent-minded, but when he looked up and saw Tang's enlarged smiling face on the LED screen, his expression became serious.

Westbrook came over and patted him on the chest at this time, and he nodded.

No matter what the future held, he had to play well against Tang, that was a game he had to win.

The scene entered the opening ceremony, and the starting players of the two teams took the stage one after another.

Both sides were regular lineups, but when Tang was introduced at the end, some fans noticed a familiar figure on the Pelicans' bench.

The Pelicans' team consultant Nash was also at the scene. He was sitting at the very end of the bench, with his two daughters beside him.