Kidd reached out and called a timeout.

He really cared about his reputation.

Although the Pelicans were strong, the Bucks also had their Big Three. Being played like this, he was losing face!

"Don't worry about Dedmon, double-team whoever else has the ball!"

During the timeout, Kidd adjusted his defensive strategy.

They couldn't let the Big Four off easy, so they would constantly double-team in specific areas.

Ignoring Dedmon, who had no offensive ability, gave them a chance to hold on.

When play resumed, Irving broke through and hit a step-back jumper over Walker, finally breaking the Bucks' scoring drought.

Kidd's expression improved slightly.

Although the quality of the Bucks' Big Three was inferior to that of the Pelicans, scoring points solved everything.

Walker dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and ran another pick-and-roll with Davis.

This was also a deliberate arrangement by Stevens before the game.

The pick-and-roll between Walker and Davis worked well in training, and would be very useful during the bench rotation in the regular season.

So they needed to practice it more during the preseason.

After the screen, Walker dribbled the ball outward this time.

He was mismatched against Antetokounmpo.

It was a small-over-big opportunity.

But at that moment, the Bucks rotated their help defense, with Irving directly double-teaming from the weak side.

Walker quickly passed the ball to Davis.

But the Bucks rotated very well, and Monroe and Hayward were already double-teaming Davis.

Whoever had the ball was going to get double-teamed!

However, Davis made an inside-inside pass, lobbing the ball to Dedmon under the basket.

Dedmon was completely unguarded!

No matter how fast the Bucks' help defense rotation was, it was still a series of double-teams. In the end, the ball was passed to Dedmon, whom they had intentionally abandoned in their defense, and they didn't have time to help defend!

Dedmon held the ball with both hands, exerted force, and slammed the ball into the basket!

He got the first "cake" (easy basket) of his Pelicans career!

The fans at the scene were going wild.

Another dunk!

Except for Walker's floater at the beginning of the game, the Pelicans had finished their subsequent 5 offensive possessions with dunks!

The Bucks' basket was already groaning.

Hayward's step-back jumper after a breakthrough missed, but Antetokounmpo managed to tip the ball into the basket.

The Bucks scored on consecutive possessions, and their offense was showing signs of improvement.

Back on the other end, the Pelicans continued to play positional offense. Walker and Davis were double-teamed after a pick-and-roll, and passed the ball to Tang Tian on the outside.

Tang Tian had the opportunity to catch the ball, but he didn't shoot. He waited for Hayward, who was lunging out, faked him out, and then broke towards the basket.

Antetokounmpo helped defend, and Dedmon set a screen at the free throw line.

Tang Tian broke to the right side using the screen, and Antetokounmpo and Monroe double-teamed him directly.

The Bucks still used the same defensive strategy, double-teaming the ball-handler!

However, in the instant before the double-team formed, Tang Tian made a no-look bounce pass, directly knocking the ball back to Dedmon!

Dedmon caught the ball with a wide-open lane in front of him, took a step, and slammed the ball in with a one-handed dunk!

The Pelicans' 6th dunk of the game!

Dedmon's second "cake" of his Pelicans career!

This frequency of getting "cakes" was a bit fast!

Kidd stood up again from the bench and walked onto the court to remind his players to pay attention to help defense under the basket.

Although they were intentionally leaving Dedmon open, Dedmon had the ability to score under the basket.

The Bucks were playing more and more smoothly. Antetokounmpo had a chance to cut to the basket in the frontcourt, and Dellavedova passed him the ball immediately.

But at that moment, Butler helped defend, sticking close to Antetokounmpo and not giving him a chance to easily exert force.

In the end, Antetokounmpo tried to force his way through Butler.

But Butler had already established his position. Antetokounmpo's shoulder charge knocked Butler over, and the referee's whistle sounded.

Offensive foul!

Antetokounmpo saw the referee's gesture, put the ball down, and shook his head helplessly.

The fans at the scene followed with a chorus of boos.

This play showed Butler's defensive ability.

His wingspan was only 2.01 meters, the same as his height. In terms of defensive talent alone, he was probably one of the worst.

But he was able to be selected for the All-Defensive First Team last season because of his defensive aggressiveness and awareness.

This small-over-big defense had fully demonstrated these abilities.

Stevens nodded constantly on the sidelines.

The Bucks had scored on consecutive possessions before, and their offense was showing signs of momentum. This charge call snuffed out their morale.

In the Pelicans' frontcourt, Walker and Davis ran a pick but didn't have a chance, circled the inside but didn't have a chance, and passed the ball to Tang Tian.

Tang Tian called Dedmon for a high pick-and-roll, and broke towards the basket after being mismatched against Monroe.

Back in his NCAA days, Tang Tian and Monroe were in the same division, and they had played against each other many times. He knew Monroe's technical characteristics very well.

A traditional center who could also pass the ball. Like Kanter last season, his performance had rebounded after returning to early 2000s basketball.

But slow speed was the biggest weakness of this type of center.

However, the Bucks obviously knew this as well. After the pick-and-roll switch, Dellavedova ignored Dedmon and went straight to double-team Tang Tian.

Tang Tian broke into the free throw line and made an over-the-shoulder pass directly to Dedmon.

Dedmon had a completely open look on the outside.

Kidd breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.

Dedmon had absolutely no three-point ability, so the Bucks had defended this play successfully.

In less than five minutes, the Pelicans had scored 14 points. Compared to the offense, the Bucks' defense had been completely torn apart tonight.

Fortunately, he had adjusted his strategy in time. If they played like this, a 10-point deficit wasn't completely hopeless.

But just as he thought that, Dedmon adjusted his posture at the three-point line and shot a three-pointer!

What was going on?!

Dedmon had only attempted one three-pointer in his first four years of his career, and he hadn't even made it!

He hadn't even seen him shoot a three-pointer during warm-ups before the game, but he was actually shooting one now?!

Kidd's reaction was still quick.

This must be like Antetokounmpo, he had to shoot because he had the opportunity, but he actually wasn't much of a threat.

"Swish!"

But just as he thought that, a crisp sound came from the court.

Dedmon's three-pointer went in cleanly!

Dedmon's third "cake" of his Pelicans career, but this time it was a flying cake!

He had three-point ability!

Kidd was completely stunned.

The fans at the scene were also shocked.

A black, rough, and tough guy could shoot three-pointers?

This was unscientific!

Dedmon was actually just an undrafted player. He had bounced around the NBA for a few years without much to show for it. He only had occasional flashes of brilliance under Popovich last season.

To put it bluntly, he was a player with very low name recognition. The Pelicans spending 6 million to sign him felt like an overpay.

But this three-pointer made it seem like the 6 million was a steal!

There were no black, rough, and tough guys who could shoot three-pointers in the league!

The Pelicans' Big Four were already so strong, and now they had a 3-and-D black, rough, and tough guy like a treasure. The Pelicans' lineup was completely unreasonable!

Tang Tian defended the Bucks' offense again.

With two All-Defensive First Team players on the Pelicans' starting lineup, the defensive intensity was terrifyingly high.

Back on the other end, Walker took a three-pointer after a pick-and-roll, but the ball didn't go in, but Davis grabbed the offensive rebound.

The Bucks continued to double-team, and Davis passed the ball directly to the middle. Dedmon caught the ball, took a step, and slammed the ball in over Hayward, who was helping defend!

The whistle sounded, indicating that Hayward had fouled.

It was a 2+1!

Dedmon turned around and roared excitedly, then bumped chests with Davis.

He had gotten four "cakes" in less than half a quarter!

He could get "cakes," and the Pelicans' Big Four were going to feed him until he was full!