Popovich saw that things were going wrong and turned to substitute Bertans for Baynes.
They had fallen behind in the opening battle, and Stevens had beaten him to the punch in tactical deployment.
With Bertans on the court, the Spurs did not run the Hammer Play in the frontcourt. Instead, they spread the floor and let Aldridge receive the ball in the post with his back to Robinson.
Aldridge strung together several footwork moves, faked Robinson into the air, then spun around for a bank shot score.
Robinson was far too eager to jump. He was comparable to Majuk, Tang Tian's former teammate at UConn.
Stevens walked to the sideline and shouted a reminder.
On the other end, Tang Tian cut to the basket, took Davis's pass, and scored over Aldridge while drawing a Hand-check Foul from him.
After making the basket, Tang Tian turned and pointed at Davis.
Davis's improvement was obvious to everyone, but being able to make a pass like that showed that the Pelicans were locked in at an extremely high level tonight.
Tang Tian calmly made the free throw, and the Pelicans continued to lead 12-4, by 8 points.
The Spurs continued to go to Aldridge in the frontcourt.
With Stevens's reminder, Robinson did not jump this time. However, Aldridge had a major weight advantage and backed Robinson down before spinning for another hook shot.
He had now scored two straight baskets in the low post.
Stevens turned and called Siakam over.
Robinson's surprise factor had helped the Pelicans gain an advantage early, but Popovich had reacted quickly. Keeping Robinson on the floor any longer would now do more harm than good.
Siakam checked in, and both sides were using a One Big Four Small Lineup.
The fans in the arena grew somewhat nervous at