Chapter 1 "Shack, it looks like you really are cursed. At this rate, they might even make it to halftime."

Barkley laughed, looking at O'Neal.

O'Neal, in his usual way of wildly praising Tang, had been hyping up the Pelicans countless times.

This time was no different. The scores of both sides were rising alternately, and it might really go to halftime, or even later.

It seemed the playoffs were different from the regular season.

The Pelicans could win 80 games in the regular season, but the first round wasn't easy.

O'Neal looked at the time and immediately shook his head.

"It's only been three minutes, there are still two minutes left."

O'Neal said confidently.

Smith laughed after hearing that.

O'Neal really wouldn't give up until he saw the coffin. Given the situation on the court, even if it wasn't halftime, it would at least last half a quarter.

Two minutes was just a few possessions.

"Boom!"

But just as he was thinking that, Tang Tian broke through Murray and, before Aldridge could help defend, slammed the ball heavily into the basket with a tomahawk dunk.

The cheers at the scene erupted, instantly detonating their eardrums.

"Didn't you guys notice that Tang hasn't attacked at all since the start?"

After the cheers subsided, O'Neal said with a smug look.

That look on his face was absolutely punchable.

But Barkley and Smith couldn't do anything about it, because what he said made sense!

Tang Tian hadn't attacked since the start, and when he did, it was a thunderous dunk. The Pelicans' momentum was completely different!

"2-3 zone, let Murray take the open three-pointer."

Not only on the offensive end, Tang Tian was also directing the team's tactics on the court while retreating on defense.

When you decide to show your cards, you have to do it thoroughly.

Stevens didn't say anything on the sidelines, this was originally an adjustment he was planning to make during the timeout.

Tang Tian's advance command had saved him a timeout.

The Spurs attacked to the frontcourt again, and the Pelicans' interior shrank to defend with a 2-3 zone.

And this 2-3 was a little different. Walker and Tang Tian on the outside followed their defenders Mills and Green, completely leaving Murray open.

To be precise, it should be called interior zone defense with man-to-man on the outside.

Murray took an open three-point shot.

"Clang!"

Murray's physical condition was very good, and he had the potential and conditions to become an All-Star player, but his shooting, especially his three-pointer, was his weakness.

Murray knew it was off as soon as he shot it. He accelerated, wanting to rush for the offensive rebound again, but Butler was very alert and cut him off in advance.

Davis leaped up and grabbed the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans immediately launched a fast break.

Tang Tian and Walker both dashed out, and Davis made a long pass to Tang Tian.

The Pelicans had a two-on-one in the frontcourt.

Mills was caught in a dilemma. Walker went to the frontcourt and directly made a finger roll over Mills off the backboard.

Tang Tian soared into the air, caught the ball rebounding off the backboard, and windmilled it.

"Boom!"

The moment the ball was slammed into the basket, the entire New Orleans Arena instantly boiled.

He was showing off!

The first three minutes of stalemate had the fans worried.

Just when the fans were sighing at the Spurs' resilience, Tang Tian fired up, and two dunks completely broke the situation on the court.

Popovich turned around and called Ginobili over, having him replace Murray.

Popovich's reaction was really quick.

With Ginobili on the court, the Pelicans switched back to man-to-man defense.

The Spurs ran the hammer play, Ginobili breaking through to the basket.

But whether it was him or Green at the baseline, there were no opportunities!

Tang Tian's two dunks had boosted the Pelicans' morale, and the help defense rotations on the defensive end were very well done.

The ball eventually went to Aldridge, who posted up and shot again.

"Bang!"

But this shot didn't go off. Tang Tian, after predicting in advance from the weak side, leaped up and blocked the shot, swatting Aldridge's ball out of bounds with one palm.

The whistle sounded on the sideline, the Spurs were defended for 24 seconds!

After the block, Tang Tian habitually shook his finger at the fans in the arena.

The atmosphere of the entire New Orleans Arena reached a new peak.

Amidst the cheers, Tang Tian broke through in the frontcourt, attracting a double-team, and passed it out to Dedmon on the outside.

Dedmon's undefended three-pointer pierced through the net like a heavy cannon.

13 to 7!

The Pelicans had launched a 7-0 run in the past two minutes!

"Five minutes."

O'Neal said seriously, looking at Barkley and Smith.

Barkley and Smith exchanged glances, then couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Exactly five minutes.

Although the score difference wasn't big, everyone could feel that the Pelicans had completely gained momentum.

Popovich's substitution was timely, but in the face of the absolute gap in strength, it didn't achieve the desired effect.

Moreover, as the momentum built, the Pelicans' defensive intensity was completely on another level compared to the start.

Green no longer had the good three-point shooting opportunities he had at the start, and the Spurs didn't score for quite some time.

They only managed to score points through free throws.

After the first quarter, the score on the court was 31 to 16.

This was even with Brogdon making his first appearance after recovering from injury, missing two outside shots in a row, allowing the Spurs to close some of the gap.

But this score already said a lot.

Popovich sat on the sidelines without speaking during the quarter break, the assistant coach was handling the tactical arrangements.

His thinking could actually be seen at the start of the game.

This season, the teams that could play relatively long against the Pelicans, the Mavericks, Warriors, Trail Blazers... were basically all teams that played the Pelicans in a shootout.

So his pre-game arrangement was like that, the team going all out to fight on offense.

That's why, even though he was always strict with defense, he rarely got angry after seeing the team's continuous defensive failures.

This also worked at the start, with the two teams playing evenly matched.

But when the Pelicans increased their defensive intensity, it didn't work.

This was also the drawback of the playoffs without Leonard, or rather, without a superstar.

Like the Pelicans' season-ending game against the Timberwolves, they couldn't find a point to break open the offense, and the tactics couldn't be implemented.

The Pelicans finally found Rose in that game, but the Spurs couldn't find one.

In the second quarter, Aldridge was in excellent form, making consecutive shots from mid-range.

He had a strong tendency to become that point.

But his scoring method had too little lethality. Although it was also two points, the overall feeling was very inefficient.

On the other hand, the Pelicans' hard-training four brothers all fired up, and the offensive momentum didn't diminish.

After the second quarter, they still won the single-quarter score by 33 to 26.

At the end of the first half, the score on the court was 64 to 42, the Pelicans had extended their lead to as many as 22 points.

At the end of the first half, Popovich looked up at the score, then looked at the Pelicans in the half, his eyes full of helplessness.

He wasn't lamenting that Tang Tian hadn't listened to his request to go easy on them, but was lamenting the team he had led for more than twenty years.

The Spurs' strength was largely due to Duncan.

One Duncan was enough for them for 20 years.

Now that Duncan had retired, they thought they still had Leonard.

But with the previous Leonard incident, plus the season-ending injury, the Spurs' playoffs this season might be winless.