Barkley choked back the "slam dunk" that was about to come out of his mouth.

A sense of despair washed over the home fans.

The team couldn't find its rhythm, and the Bucks resorted to their most familiar and lethal one-star-four-shooter lineup.

But right from the start, they were called for an offensive foul by the Pelicans.

It was like pouring salt directly into the wound.

Giannis turned to argue with the referee, but the call stood.

Tang Tian's positioning was perfect, and his fall was equally convincing.

Even if you didn't, knocking the supposed best player in NBA history to the ground, a call would be appropriate!

Tang Tian was helped up by his teammates and went to inbound the ball.

When he first arrived in Milwaukee, the time that Davis applied to play but was rejected, Tang Tian and Stevens discussed tactics for nearly an hour.

Targeting the Bucks' style of play was naturally a key focus of their research.

Including how to break the Bucks' commonly used 2-1-2 zone defense on offense.

And how to defend the Bucks' one-star-four-shooter lineup.

Giannis had the best explosiveness in the league, but his technical weaknesses were still too significant.

After two seasons of training, his shooting had only improved to the point where he could space the floor, but without enough threat.

Moreover, his passing hadn't improved much either; unless the opponent double-teamed him early, allowing him to spot the open teammate immediately, it was difficult for him to pass the ball out.

In other words, as long as he took the ball for a one-on-one, you knew his intention was definitely to drive inside.

So in defending this, the Pelicans' approach was textbook.

First, use Siakam to physically challenge him, creating body contact and making Giannis focus all his attention on getting past him.

Then, when he charges in, someone is already positioned under the basket, waiting for him to run into.

Tang Tian was that someone.

Although he hadn't done it in a while, he had Varejao-level flopping skills.

His strengthened body could also withstand this kind of head-on collision.

In the Pelicans' frontcourt offense, seeing the Bucks switch to one-on-one coverage, Tang Tian passed the ball to Gasol to facilitate from the high post.

Redick had significant matchup problems with Irving, and the Pelicans quickly created opportunities with two off-ball screens on the weak side.

Gasol passed the ball to Carter, who cut to the corner off a screen.

Carter caught the ball and shot a three-pointer.

"Swish!"

The three-pointer went in cleanly!

At 42 years old, the reason old Carter could stay in the league wasn't just his reputation; this late-career 3-and-D style, combined with Tang Tian's head-patting buff, was truly the definition of consistency.

10-0!

The Pelicans blew out the Bucks right from the start!

Coach Budenholzer had to call a timeout.

The despair in the home fans' eyes was now impossible to hide.

Outcoached tactically, and with Giannis unable to find a rhythm, compared to the Lakers, the Bucks looked like a bunch of kids.

Their 12-0 record was entirely due to the weakness of the East, a false prosperity!

Kenny Smith also remained silent at this point, letting Barkley and O'Neal, this odd couple, hype things up.

This year's Finals was going to be one-sided.

After the timeout, the Bucks still ran their one-star-four-shooter lineup.

The change was that Giannis was more aware of the defense under the basket when he drove.

However, Siakam was no pushover; Giannis couldn't get past him without using full force.

The two battled at the free throw line for a while, and Giannis was forced into a turnaround fadeaway from the baseline.

This was clearly not his forte, and the shot completely missed.

A wave of disappointment swept through the arena.

They'd already forced Giannis to this extent, what was the point of continuing!

The Pelicans launched a fast break; Brogdon accelerated past Irving, caught Tang Tian's long outlet pass, and scored another 2 points with a layup.

12-0!

"Good heavens!"

Barkley covered his face at the commentary table, unable to watch.

Although he and O'Neal both thought the Pelicans would win, the gap was just too big.

Irving's isolation play in the frontcourt, a contested fadeaway three over Brogdon, finally broke the Bucks' scoring drought.

That was pure individual skill.

But that kind of scoring was clearly not enough for the Bucks.

Halfway through the first quarter, the score was 20-5, and the Pelicans had built a 15-point lead in just half a quarter.

The home fans had gone from enthusiastic at the start to completely silent.

No one likes to be on the receiving end of a beatdown.

In the Bucks' offense, Giannis again gestured for the ball, indicating he wanted to isolate.

He could feel the emotions of the fans in the arena, and he had to try again.

Still facing Siakam, his drive was even more determined than before.

His physique was still more dominant, and Siakam was tough enough, but still couldn't hold him off.

But as before, after he got past Siakam, Tang Tian was already waiting there.

He forcibly braked using his physical gifts, managing to avoid running into him again.

After stopping, his first reaction was to look for an open teammate, but the Pelicans' help defense rotations were already in place.

After the Pelicans studied their tactics and trained specifically against them, Giannis was truly being contained.

In the end, Giannis was left with only one option: to go one-on-one against Tang Tian, fortunately having a size advantage.

Posting up with his back to the basket, then turning to shoot.

"Snap!"

He turned around, but before he could shoot, the ball was directly stolen from him!

Compared to his explosiveness, his post moves were even worse than James'.

This level of post play was just giving the ball away in front of Tang Tian.

Tang Tian squeezed through, grabbed the ball, and prepared for a fast break, but Giannis grabbed him.

The referee blew his whistle, calling a foul on Giannis.

It was also his second personal foul of the quarter.

After seeing this, Coach Budenholzer had no choice but to substitute him with Ilyasova.

Giannis was visibly frustrated as he walked off the court; he'd played so smoothly in the previous series, but the first game of the Finals was like this.

It felt like driving a sports car at 300 mph on a highway in the no man's land, only to suddenly encounter a 90-degree mountain turn.

One headfirst crash, and you smash right into it.

With the team's leader leaving the court halfway through the quarter, the Bucks' fighting strength was reduced by at least half.

The Pelicans' loss of Davis was significant, but without Giannis, the Bucks might not even be as strong as the Celtics, whom they had previously swept.

Irving and Horford dared to fight, but were unable to turn the tide.

Hayward also had few opportunities under Tang Tian's defense, and the game had already lost its suspense at this point.

Despite the Milwaukee fans' high expectations, reality gave them a resounding slap in the face.

In the end, the Pelicans easily defeated the Bucks 113-86 on the road, taking the first game of the Finals.

After the game, Tang Tian and Siakam attended the post-game press conference together.

Siakam had an outstanding performance in this game, not only scoring the second-highest 17 points for the team, but also holding Giannis to just 11 points.

Tang Tian naturally praised him effusively.

Calling him the best player on the team, saying he could be an All-Star on a weaker team, that he was the power forward most suited to modern basketball, he was just short of saying he was better than Davis.

"How do you evaluate Giannis' performance?"

The reporter naturally asked about Giannis' performance.

Giannis had played his worst game of the season, and throwing this question to Tang Tian was like a hot potato.

Tang Tian paused for a moment, then finally used a relatively mild assessment.

"He still has a lot of room for improvement, and I believe he has a very high ceiling."