"Let's go, Warriors!"
The cheers on-site were deafening.
The fans' emotions had also reached a peak at this point.
As long as the Warriors scored one more basket, the gap would officially reach the 20-point mark!
For two evenly matched teams, a 20-point lead basically meant declaring victory for the night in advance!
The Warriors worked the ball around continuously in the frontcourt, but the Pelicans had raised their defensive intensity considerably after returning for the second half, leaving them with no direct scoring opportunity.
Thompson suddenly made a clever cut, taking Curry's pass for a soaring layup. He collided with the rotating Ariza and drew a defensive foul on him.
That fall had been a little heavy. As he got up, he shook out his arm, fortunately uninjured.
When he stepped to the free-throw line, he adjusted his body and rocked from side to side before shooting.
Swish!
His first free throw went in cleanly, bringing the gap to 19 points.
Excitement burst across the faces of the on-site fans. If Thompson made the next one, the gap would officially reach 20 points!
Thompson's Free Throw Percentage this season was over 87%. These kinds of shots were practically guaranteed.
Clang!
But perhaps that earlier fall had really affected him. Thompson's second free throw bounced off the rim.
Davis reacted quickly, judging the ball's landing spot and getting there first to secure the Defensive Rebound.
The Pelicans' defensive strategy for the second half was Defensive Counterattack—not merely the direct fast-break opportunities created by steals, since those chances were limited.
More often, it was about counterattacking after grabbing rebounds like that.
The instant Davis got the ball, he looked for Tang Tian. Seeing Tang Tian had already sprinted beyond the three-point line, he fired a Long pass from the backcourt.
His