The Cavaliers attacked, and Irving drove past Holiday to the basket, but his shot missed.
Tang Tian read the bounce and went for the Defensive Rebound, but Whiteside beat him to the offensive rebound and tipped the ball into the basket.
After losing weight, Whiteside had both agility and strength, and his performance was quite eye-catching.
On the other end, the Pelicans attacked. Tang Tian went at Love again, absorbed contact from Whiteside before the double-team arrived, and sent the ball into the basket.
4-4.
Both teams had scored on every one of their first few possessions.
Although the referee's whistle had changed, with both teams in this kind of form tonight, this was shaping up to be an offensive shootout.
Midway through the first quarter, the score was 20-15, with the Pelicans ahead.
For the Cavaliers, Whiteside had stood out with 8 points.
For the Pelicans, Tang Tian also had 8 points, along with 2 rebounds and 4 assists!
One of those four assists had led to a three-pointer. Taking away two free throws, 17 of the Pelicans' 20 points had been connected to Tang Tian!
The Pelicans were not running any complicated sets. Their core idea was to spread the floor, then let Tang Tian attack himself or make simple pick-and-roll passes for assists.
In other words, Tang Tian's holding the ball rate after the opening tip had reached 100%!
"Brad."
On the bench, Gentry could not help turning to look at Stevens.
What the Pelicans were running on the court tonight was somewhat different from what they had prepared before the game.
"I know."
Stevens had naturally noticed it as well.
But after nodding, he said nothing.
He was strict in practice, but he knew how to adapt.
That could be seen from the way he got