The Pelicans also made tactical adjustments on the defensive end, having Brogdon defend Harden and Tang Tian switch to defend Paul.

Harden attacked Brogdon, penetrating the inside and drawing a defensive foul. He made both free throws to continue adding points for the Rockets.

14-4, the Rockets still maintained a double-digit lead.

D'Antoni also sat back down.

The Rockets' strategy from the start was to shrink the defense and double-team Tang Tian. Playing like this was like walking into a cage.

Moreover, if the offense could keep up the firepower, the Rockets wouldn't be afraid to play that way at all.

Thinking like this, the shadow cast by the preseason disappeared completely.

"Swish!"

But just as that thought popped into his head, Tang Tian used Davis' screen to pull up for a contested jumper before Capela could pounce, hitting the shot.

The lineup on the court for the Pelicans had a very good support effect.

Back on the other end, Harden attacked Brogdon again. This time, Brogdon was smarter and didn't reach out when Harden shot.

Harden's layup was a bit off, and the rebound was secured by Davis.

The Pelicans immediately launched a fast break.

Tang Tian received a long pass from Davis, dribbled behind his back to get past Ennis, then accelerated to the frontcourt, leaping into the air for a windmill dunk.

"Boom!"

With consecutive dunks, the atmosphere at the New Orleans Arena was completely ignited.

The Pelicans' bench erupted.

Ever since the dunk contest last season, Tang Tian seemed to have opened the door to a new world, becoming a top-tier dunker.

But unlike last season, the Pelicans' bench also had a super dunker sitting on it this season.

Carter also stood up to cheer for Tang Tian.

He looked at Tang Tian with a gaze full of his younger self.

The benefit of Tang Tian becoming a dunker was that this scoring method boosted morale quickly, and those two dunks brought the team's morale to full throttle.

The Rockets' offense was defended again.

Although the Pelicans didn't directly score on the fast break this time, their momentum was fully up.

In the frontcourt, it was still a double screen.

However, after Tang Tian scored consecutively, the Rockets' defense became more targeted.

When Tang Tian broke through inside, a pre-emptive double-team was already waiting for him.

But that kind of defense didn't have much of an effect. After Tang Tian turned towards the baseline and attracted a triple-team, he made a long, sweeping pass while moving.

The ball passed through layers of defense and went directly to Davis' hands under the basket.

Davis caught the ball and easily dunked it in.

8-14, the point difference was suddenly narrowed to 6 points.

Harden's step-back three-pointer still didn't go in. Brogdon was more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

Tang Tian grabbed the long rebound himself, turned and dribbled past Harden, rushed to the frontcourt and threw down another one-handed windmill dunk.

The New Orleans Arena was already boiling.

From five minutes to a little over seven minutes, Tang Tian had already put up 6 points and 1 assist, his scoring explosiveness was terrifying.

D'Antoni was forced to call a timeout.

When the timeout ended, he brought Gordon into the game.

After that stretch of offense and defense, he had figured out one thing, whether it was the Pelicans from last season or the Pelicans from this season.

If the Rockets wanted to win, they couldn't do it with their current pathetic defense. They could only play a shootout.

As soon as Gordon came on, he received an assist from Paul and swished a catch-and-shoot three-pointer.

He looked to be in very good form.

But back on the other end, Tang Tian used Davis' screen to penetrate the paint, spun around in the double-team, and hit a fadeaway jumper, while also drawing a foul on Capela!

After making the free throw, he completed the 2+1, narrowing the point difference to 4 points again!

For the next half of the quarter, the two sides entered a shootout.

The Rockets swept away their preseason slump and went all out on offense, while the Pelicans' side became Tang Tian's personal scoring show.

Breakthroughs, dunks, pull-up jumpers, turnaround fadeaways, dribble layups...

He showed off his individual skills and fully demonstrated the strength of the league's number one player.

He didn't start to put up points until five minutes into the first quarter, but by the end of the quarter, he had already put up 20 points!

20 points in 7 minutes, this terrifying scoring explosiveness was unique in the league!

Driven by his crazy scoring, the Pelicans turned the tables and finished the first quarter with a 30-27 lead over the Rockets.

Tang Tian and Davis both went off to rest, and the two sides entered the bench rotation phase.

The Pelicans' touch was really off tonight. Kuzma, who had performed well in the preseason, was entrusted with an important task, but he missed several shots from the outside.

Dedmon was also clanging shots from the outside.

Led by Gordon and Paul, the Rockets quickly regained the lead.

Out of desperation, Stevens could only substitute Tang Tian back into the game early.

This move also had an immediate effect.

Tang Tian came on and scored consecutively against the double-team, quickly helping the Pelicans regain the lead and reigniting the emotions of the fans in the arena.

D'Antoni paced back and forth on the sidelines.

During the offseason, there was a saying that many people mentioned.

Two years ago, Tang Tian averaged a triple-double in the regular season. That was when Tang Tian was at his strongest.

But at this moment, fans realized one thing: Tang Tian was only 25 years old now!

For a player, that wasn't even his peak age yet!

As long as he didn't have any injuries, Tang Tian would only get stronger and stronger!

And the strongest Tang Tian was just an illusion created by the fact that he worked hard to play with his brothers last season, and each of them sacrificed ball possession!

If Tang Tian wanted to score, no one could stop him!

Tang Tian scored another 17 points in this quarter, bringing his personal total to 37 points at halftime!

In the season opener, his scoring was on pace to reach 50+!

Under his leadership, despite the Rockets' excellent form tonight, the Pelicans still finished the first half with a 58-52 lead!

"I don't think Walker and Butler leaving is necessarily a bad thing."

O'Neal, who had watched half the game in the commentary booth, said with emotion.

His emotion drew curious glances from Barkley and Smith.

"At least we can see Tang score 50+ or even 60+ points again. Who doesn't like a scoring performance?"

O'Neal's words drew nods from Barkley and Smith.

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. From a fan's point of view, this was really a good thing.

At halftime, the players from both sides returned to the locker room to rest.

However, after returning to the locker room, the players noticed that Davis was immediately icing his knee, and the team doctor was talking to him.

It turned out that he had bumped his knee when he collided with Capela in the first quarter.

Although Davis had grown taller, his weight was still difficult to support him playing the center position.

In other words, if he played center, the risk of injury would be much greater.

Although Davis wanted to continue playing, the team doctor, for safety reasons, advised Stevens not to let him play in the second half.

Stevens also adopted the suggestion.

One regular season game wasn't worth the risk of using Davis.

But in that case, the Pelicans' season opener would be even more uncertain.

The players were not in good form, and Tang Tian had nearly 40 points in the first half to barely maintain the lead. If Davis didn't play in the second half, the situation would really be very unfavorable.