Chapter 1 New York Headquarters

Xiao Hua's expression was slightly flushed, and he looked somewhat excited.

This was the first time since the playoffs had begun that he'd seen the Pelicans suffer a setback.

Tang Tian's offensive desire was low because of Fegen's death, and the Trail Blazers were in excellent form.

Putting aside whether the Pelicans could eventually win the championship, as long as the possibility of them winning the playoffs with a 16-0 record was broken, he could give the sports betting website an explanation!

He immediately called Sock and asked him to communicate with the referees.

"Tang, how are you feeling?"

During the timeout, Stevens politely declined the on-site reporter's interview and pulled Tang Tian aside to chat privately.

"No problem."

Tang Tian nodded calmly.

After the first quarter, it was clear that the Trail Blazers were in good shape.

That was to be expected.

They had just played a Game 7 against the Rockets and won, so their form and morale were at their peak.

Even if he had started firing in the first quarter, he would have only tied the score or taken a few-point lead at most.

"Then you should play more later," Stevens added.

Tang Tian nodded again.

Like using Tai Chi to deflect force, the Trail Blazers used all their energy in the first quarter, and their strength would definitely decline in the second quarter.

If he made his move at that time, the situation would be different.

That was why he hadn't actively asked Stevens for the right to shoot in the first quarter.

When the second quarter returned, the starters led the substitutes on the court.

McCollum and Anthony led the Trail Blazers, while Davis led the Pelicans.

It was during this period that an unexpected change occurred on the court.

Rose continued his excellent form, scoring inside and out, and together with Davis, led the team to a 10-2 run, directly reversing the score.

Rose had been in good form since returning from injury, even putting up a 52-point performance in the regular season finale.

Plus, there was Brogdon, who had recovered from injury, as well as Bojan, Siakam, Harrell, and Lamb.

The Pelicans had too many available substitutes. Stevens could easily rotate 10 or even 11 players.

Stotts was forced to call a timeout.

The Trail Blazers' starters were strong, but their substitutes were much weaker.

After Harkless and Meyers Leonard were traded, Turner was the only one who could play in games of this intensity.

Zach Collins had excellent talent, but as a rookie, he was too inexperienced. Ed Davis, who replaced him, had limited ability.

The situation was similar for Napier and Pat Connaughton on the outside. Their room for improvement was limited in this level of competition.

After the timeout, Stotts brought Lillard and Nurkic back early.

When playing the Pelicans, stamina was no longer something he should worry about. He knew that if he didn't hold on, the Pelicans would break through directly.

This substitution worked well. Lillard assisted Turner for a basket, and then made a difficult three-pointer himself.

A 5-0 run put the score at 43-41, and the Trail Blazers were back in the lead.

"Beep!"

Lillard was making his signature "Dame Time" gesture when a short whistle sounded on the court.

Tang Tian and Butler came on, replacing Rose and Siakam.

Stevens had also brought on his starters early.

Both sides entered the decisive battle time ahead of schedule.

The Pelicans advanced to the frontcourt. Brogdon dribbled the ball past the half-court line and passed it to Tang Tian, then signaled for everyone else to spread out.

Brogdon, Butler, Bojan, Davis.

With this lineup and tactical gesture, the Pelicans fans knew what was about to happen.

Tactical number 1, Tang Tian isolation play!

Realizing this, the crowd erupted in cheers before Tang Tian even started playing.

After holding back for a quarter, Tang Tian was finally going to start firing!

Stotts also walked from the bench to the sideline and gestured to the team's defensive positioning.

Tang Tian glanced at Turner, did a wide-ranging butterfly step, and then shook him off in one step on the right.

After shaking him off, he accelerated again. He was like a sports car with its accelerator pedal floored, rushing straight into the paint.

The Trail Blazers players turned their heads and saw a blur flashing past their eyes.

"Boom!"

With a one-handed tomahawk dunk, Tang Tian slammed the ball heavily into the basket.

The cheers from the crowd instantly erupted.

Tang Tian exhaled after the dunk.

He had held his breath just now, pushing his speed to the fastest, giving the Trail Blazers no time to react defensively.

The Trail Blazers were in high spirits, and to suppress them, the first thing to do was to suppress their momentum.

So, he went all out from the start.

Lillard broke through and made a reverse layup against Brogdon, continuing to score for the Trail Blazers.

He really was having "Dame Time" tonight, and he couldn't take it off easily.

The Trail Blazers still maintained their lead.

Tang Tian dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and made the number 1 tactical gesture.

He was going to keep playing that way!

Turner chose to press closely, knowing that he couldn't defend Tang Tian, so he chose a gambling defense.

Seeing this, Tang Tian didn't dribble, but squeezed past him in one step on the right, and then accelerated. Turner couldn't even foul him if he wanted to.

"Shrink! Shrink!"

Stotts shouted from the sidelines.

Tang Tian was too fast.

He shouted in time, but the Pelicans spaced the floor well, and the Trail Blazers didn't have time to shrink.

Only Aminu barely got into position.

Seeing this, Tang Tian didn't force it, but suddenly tossed the ball into the air.

Just as Aminu thought someone was behind him for an alley-oop.

"Bang!"

The ball flew straight onto the backboard.

Before Aminu could turn around, the ball rebounded off the backboard.

The crowd was already cheering.

Because Tang Tian had already passed by Aminu and taken off directly.

As the ball rebounded, he reached out with his right hand and pressed down on it.

"Boom!"

The ball was slammed into the basket.

The moment the ball was slammed in, the cheers exploded in the arena.

A bank shot dunk!

McGrady's signature dunk.

Tang Tian used it often before, but since the dunk contest, the feeling he got from dunking was completely different.

Before it was violent, but now, in addition to violence, there was also elegance!

Of course, more importantly, Tang Tian contributed two dunks as soon as the second quarter started, and the Pelicans' momentum immediately overwhelmed the Trail Blazers.

"Defense! Defense!"

The fans' emotions were also stirred up, and the cheers in the arena rose in layers.

Amid the cheers, Butler's help defense and double-team directly stole the ball from Lillard.

The Pelicans launched a fast break, Tang Tian received the ball in the mid-court and shook off the defender, and there was no one defending him in the frontcourt.

He took off one step inside the free-throw line.

One circle, two circles.

The magic of love is spinning around and around.

"Boom!"

He directly performed a 720° dunk!

"Fxck!"

Barkley even jumped up from the commentary booth.

Tang Tian had done this dunk in the dunk contest, but this was a real game, the playoffs!

The faces of the fans in the arena were flushed, and they climaxed on the spot.

That show was an in-situ spiral explosion!

"Damn it! Damn it! Rhyn!"

In New York headquarters, Xiao Hua almost had a heart attack on the spot when he saw the dunk.

He shouted at Sock, where were the referees that had been promised!

"Um... the referee can only help in the second half."

Sock knew that Xiao Hua was angry, but he still plucked up the courage to tell the truth.

The game was still going on, they couldn't go talk to the referees during the game!

Xiao Hua almost choked when he heard that.

He was really angered to the point of being half-dead.