The invincible kryptonite of basketball

At the critical moment, Tang Tian and Davis dominated the game.

After a summer of hard training, Davis has excellent low-post offense, and Tang Tian's three-threat is just showing his edge.

The two played a wave in the fourth quarter and directly used their personal strength to reap the game.

In the end, Tang Tian and Davis scored 50+ together, helping the Pelicans win the game 96-85.

After winning this game, they extended their winning streak to 5 games.

With a start of 5 wins and 0 losses, the average margin of victory over opponents is 16.5 points per game, and the average conceded points per game is 82.5 points. These statistics are quite good.

Although the record is somewhat similar to last year, as long as you have watched the Pelicans game, you know that this team is much stronger than last season.

Of course, whether we are strong or not requires a tough battle to reflect.

Among the opponents of the Pelicans' five-game winning streak, the strongest is the Eagles.

But the Eagles have only 2 wins and 3 losses this season so far, and they have completely lost the momentum of last season.

In other words, although they started with five consecutive victories and played a lot of crushing games, this is not enough to prove the strength of the Pelicans.

They need a strong enemy.

And now the enemy is coming.

The Pelicans' next game is an away game against the Thunder.

The Thunder were forced to send away Reggie Jackson last season, and the strength of the bench declined significantly, which made them miss the playoffs.

But this summer they signed Dion Waiters, plus Kanter, who was traded from the Jazz last season, the strength of the bench is back.

Of course, the most important thing is that Durant is back from injury!

His comeback is equivalent to adding a top five star in the league to the Thunder, which is more useful than any reinforcement.

And this is indeed the case. The Thunder have played four games so far this season with a record of 4 wins and 0 losses.

In the case of one game less than the Pelicans, they also won a wave of four consecutive victories.

Durant's return turned the Thunder into the first team in the Western Conference.

The match between the Pelicans and the Thunder is definitely a strong matchup.

Although they haven't played against Tang Tian for nearly a year, the grudge between Tang Tian and Durant has not diminished.

Like the Yao Sha matchup at the beginning, the Tangdu matchup is now a topic that fans talk about.

And the first match between the two sides this year is more interesting than in previous years. You must know that Durant took a full season off last season.

He was originally a person with a sensitive personality, and he didn't get sick after holding back for a whole season, and the resentment in his heart must be stronger than ever.

Especially now that the Pelicans really look like ESPN's champions.

The Pelicans want to win to prove that they really have hard power. The Thunder must also aim to win with Durant. This game is comparable to sparks hitting the earth.

On the day of the match, both sides arranged closed training sessions.

"Kevin, we're going to win."

During training, Westbrook saw Durant's serious expression and wanted to use comforting words to make him feel more relaxed.

Durant nodded, but the serious expression on his face remained unchanged.

Like the Pelicans, the Thunder and the Pelicans have undefeated records after the start of the game, but the attention in the eyes of fans and the media is far less than that of the Warriors, Pelicans, and Cavaliers.

Such a scene is not normal, he is Kevin Durant!

After training, the players all returned to the locker room one after another, prepared to take a shower, and then went back to rest.

But at this moment, Durant rarely called everyone together before the Thunder players took a shower.

"Tonight's game, just like my return from injury, is our return to the stage game, let's take our fifth victory of the season!"

Durant is not a sociable superstar, but he has been around Westbrook, and this chicken soup has something to say.

Westbrook was the first to respond, and his teammates responded one after another.

Durant was a little excited when he saw the reaction of the players, so he raised his head and roared excitedly.

Seeing his reaction, Westbrook smiled.

In the original group of teammates, the four young players changed from Green to Ibaka, and Harden's departure made the fourth young players become the third young players, and other role players also changed one group after another.

But as long as he and Durant are there, the Thunder will still be the same team they had when they first arrived in Oklahoma, and they will definitely win the championship in this city.

"Remember what I said, defense, do a good job in defensive details, the Thunder is not a team with too many tactical systems, this is what we can take advantage of, and defense is our best weapon."

On another court, Stevens continued to emphasize the importance of defense as he had done in previous games.

His purpose is very clear, which is to implant the concept of defense into the minds of every player and label this team as iron and blood.

Chapter 737 Don, You Come to Guard Durant

That night, the Chesapeake Energy Arena was full.

The team ushered in Durant's comeback this season, coupled with the Tangdu duel, fans will not miss such a game.

Somewhat similar to Durant's thoughts, the focus of the league now is on the Warriors, Pelicans and Cavaliers, and even the Spurs and Rockets Mavericks.

They need to use a victory like this to return to the focus of the league, just like they did during the four youngsters.

After the opening ceremony, the starters of the two teams were released one after another.

The Pelicans are still the regular starting five.

The Thunder partnered with Westbrook in the backcourt is second-year student Andre Robertson, with Durant and Ibaka on the front line, and center Adams.

With the growth of Robertson and Adams, the paper strength of this starter is not weaker than that of the opposite Pelicans.

Adams jumped to beat Davis, and the Thunder got the first chance to attack.

Westbrook organized the frontcourt, and Durant ran out without the ball to catch the ball and hit a mid-range shot.

To say that the only gain of the Thunder last season is that Westbrook has developed a good organization and passing ability.

He and Durant haven't played together for nearly a season, but the ball just now played better than ever.

This is where his passing ability has improved.

In the Pelicans' offense, Jokic held the ball at the top of the arc. Tang Tian cut to catch the ball and was double-teamed, and gave the ball to Jokic at the top of the arc.

Jokic was defended and then given to Ariza.

The Thunder's defensive rotation on the ball was good, and Westbrook pounced on Ariza.

Ariza shot directly against the defense.

"Dangdang!"

The basketball was disturbed and smashed out of the frame.

Ibaka protects the defensive rebound.

The Thunder played a defensive counterattack, and Durant caught the ball and faced Davis' emergency stop jumper and then scored.

There were constant cheers at the scene.

The Thunder started 4-0.

Stevens walked from the bench to the sidelines and yelled at the Pelicans to back off.

The past five games have won every game. Although he has been emphasizing it, the Pelicans still inevitably slack.

Ariza's shot selection just now was a bit overconfident, and the Pelicans' defense of the ball just now did not meet his requirements.

Jokic and Holiday made a mistake in the frontcourt cooperation, and the ball was passed out of bounds.

There was constant booing at the scene.

With the state of the Pelicans, the Thunder have a great chance of winning tonight!

"Defend! Be defensive!"

Stevens did not call a timeout, but continued to remind the players to defend from the sidelines.

His continuous reminders finally worked, and the Pelicans' defensive strength improved significantly.

Davis blocked Westbrook's layup and Jokic protected the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans played a defensive counterattack. Tang Tian received a long pass from Jokic and flew to the basket to score, breaking the scoring drought for the Pelicans.

Stevens applauded from the sidelines.

That's what he wants to see, and that's why he's spearheading this team's defense.

The offensive state is good or bad, and the feel is good or bad. Even in a game with a good state and a good feel, there will be a period of time when you can't score.

Defense is the easiest way to solve the problem.

If you don't score points, the way to keep things from getting worse is to keep your opponent from scoring points either.

Not to mention that there will be opportunities for defensive counterattacks like just now.

The Pelicans continued to show their defensive capabilities and defended against a wave of offense from the Thunder. Davis got a defensive rebound.

However, the Thunder retreated in time this time, and they did not give the Pelicans a chance to play a fast break directly.

The Pelicans moved to the frontcourt, and Tang Tian sent a second pass to Holiday, who was cutting to the bottom line.

Holiday has a good layup opportunity.

However, after his shot, the ball rolled around the basket and came out again.

Ibaka recovered to protect the defensive rebound.

Compared with the past games, the Pelicans' offense tonight is indeed a little off-attack.

But just like Stevens asked, if the offense is not enough, it will be defensive.

The Thunder were almost defended for another 24 seconds. At the critical moment, Durant turned and leaned back in the double-team to break the scoring drought.

"I am back!"

After scoring the goal, he turned around and roared at Tang Tian.

The roar on the flat ground was his emotions that had been suppressed for a season.

He came back. Last season, he wanted to defeat Tang Tian and let the fans know himself again. Unfortunately, he was injured for the last season.

Now that he is back, he wants to prove that he is still Durant, the best swingman.

However, in the next round, Tang Tian hit Robertson with his back in the high post, and also turned around and hit a shot while double-teaming.

Tang Tian didn't yell or shout, but immediately turned around and retreated.

It's as if his score just now was so ordinary that it couldn't be more ordinary.

Durant's eyebrows were turned upside down in anger. In the next round, he continued to single Ariza, stopped abruptly and made another move.

He is in very good form after returning from injury this season.

However, in the Pelicans' offense, Tang Tian forced a layup with a dynamite bag and caused Adams' defensive foul, and got two opportunities for additional penalties.

After steadily hitting two free throws amidst the noise on the spot, he helped the Pelicans continue to bite the score.

These rounds have become a microcosm of the first half of the game between the two sides.

The Pelicans' offensive state was not good, and Tang Tian stepped forward to take over the game.

On the Thunder side, because the Pelicans have a high defensive intensity, the ball is more concentrated in Durant's hands.

Tang Du faced off, as the fans expected, the two staged a battle of points in the first half.

Tang Tian scored 20 points, Durant scored 21 points, and the two were evenly matched. The Pelicans tied the Thunder at 45 at halftime, which was evenly matched.

After halftime, the players of the two teams returned to the locker room to rest one after another.

In the Pelicans locker room, the first thing the players did when they returned to the locker room was to wipe their sweat with towels.

High-intensity defense requires a lot of physical strength.

This is also the most difficult situation they have encountered since the beginning of the season.