Tang Tian did not disappoint them. Right from the start, he shook off Pope and drilled a pull-up three-pointer.
While helping the Pelicans cut the deficit to four, he also raised his personal score to 65.
But James immediately answered with a stop-and-step-back jumper.
Before the season began, fans had worried about whether he and Durant could coexist.
After all, both had previously played primarily at small forward, and both were undisputed superstars.
But now, those concerns seemed unnecessary.
Their abilities meant positions simply did not matter to them.
This quarter, the two sides were locked in another stalemate on the scoreboard.
The Lakers knew the Pelicans were still relying mainly on Tang Tian, but they simply could not stop him.
With his added ultra-long-range and face-shot abilities, combined with his scorching touch, Tang Tian was not merely close to unstoppable tonight—he was unstoppable!
And as the quarter wore on, not only the fans watching on television or following the live feed, but even the fans at Staples Center grew excited.
With three minutes left in the quarter, Tang Tian had already scored his 74th point, breaking the Single Game Scoring Record that had just been set in the Regular Season Opening Game!
"It's going to happen! It's really going to happen!"
At the Commentary Booth, O'Neal shouted as he excitedly rubbed his bald head.
When Kobe had exploded for 81 points, he had not been there, and their relationship had been terrible at the time, so he had not felt much.
But now, as a Tang Tian fanboy, he was about to witness the birth of a miracle with his own eyes. His emotions were truly beyond words.
Durant scored again on a driving layup in the frontcourt, bringing his personal tally to 35 points.
The Lakers also retook