The Pelicans' offensive possession.
Tang Tian started the game by Holding the Ball and Attacking, and the Trail Blazers had already set up a Collapse Defense.
Butler cut hard off Davis's screen, took Tang Tian's pass, and finished the layup to score the Pelicans' first basket.
There was no whistle from the sidelines.
The Pelicans had run a pick and roll on that possession, and Butler had made contact with the rotating Aminu before his layup, but the referees did not blow the whistle.
One thing was immediately obvious, something everyone could feel: the referee's whistle in this game was different from the first two.
That information alone was enough to excite everyone.
Whether it was the pressure the fans' public opinion had put on the league, or whether Lillard's words had worked.
For the fans, a game without referee interference was the kind of game they truly looked forward to watching.
It was not just the fans. The Pelicans players on the court were also visibly fired up.
Without the referees' interference, they could finally unleash their full strength!
But there was one more person on the court who was excited.
Lillard.
He had never cared to rely on referees to win games, and this was exactly the situation he wanted.
Nurkic facilitated from the frontcourt.
After running off the ball, Lillard cut back toward the basket, took Nurkic's pass, and used a Layup with a spin in the air to evade Davis's help defense before finishing with his reverse hand.
He had scored five straight points to start the game!
Just like Game 1, he had entered Lillard Time right from the opening tip!
The cheers from the on-site fans were already unstoppable.
Whenever Lillard entered Lillard Time, he was a superstar!
With the team down 0-2, they