Davis adjusted his breathing and hit a free throw.

7 to 9.

After a losing opening, the Pelicans finally got their game back in shape.

Parker's top layup under the breakaway basket was deflected wide by Davis, and Whiteside defended the defensive rebound.

Ariza's three-pointer was distracted by Leonard, and Pau Gasol grabbed Whiteside for the rebound.

After the opening stage of attacking and defending each other, the situation on the field began to stalemate.

The Spurs have been strong this season, but the Pelicans are in second place in the West because of their own strength.

As long as they play normally, they have the capital to fight the Spurs.

At the end of the first quarter, the two sides were tied at 23.

If the teams they played before weren't enough to tell the story, the Pelicans' performance in this quarter was impressive.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the main players on both sides rested off the court.

On the Spurs' side, Ginobili led the team, plus Joseph, Belinelli, Dio and Baines.

On the Pelicans' side, Jokic leads the team, plus Kerr, Gordon, Morrow and Aminu.

Up the Spurs came up to attack first, and Belinelli's catch-and-shoot three-pointer was missed.

Jokic defends the defensive rebound.

In the frontcourt, Jokic responded from the free-throw line and passed to Gordon for a layup.

"Toot!"

At this moment, there was a whistle from the sidelines, and it turned out that the Spurs called a timeout!

The teammates on the field were stunned for a moment.

Less than two and a half minutes into the second quarter, the Spurs called a timeout?!

Tang Tian was also a little stunned when he sat on the sidelines, but when he turned his head and saw Popovich with an unhappy face, he seemed to understand again.

This old man has done everything he has done in the first 6 seconds to cut O'Neal, and there is nothing he can't do.

Because the tactics had just been laid out during the break, Williams only reminded the players to pay more attention to defense at this time.

Timeout back, Spurs offense.

They suddenly stopped playing hammer tactics, and Joseph directly called Baines' pick-and-roll, and after the misalignment, Jokic burst out.

Jokic was losing weight during this time, and he didn't have good control of his body, and the block hit Joseph's hand when he was chasing defense.

Joseph made two free throws.

He hit both free throws against interference, and the Spurs tied the score again.

Back on the defensive end, the Spurs focused on the Pelicans' off-ball matchup, and Jokic's strategy didn't come out, and he turned to play Baines.

Baines is big and tough defensively, and he has been able to withstand Jokic's strong offense.

The Spurs advanced to the frontcourt, Ginobili also pulled Baines to block and displace, and Jokic continued to burst out of position.

His serpentine breakaway managed to shake off Jokic and score on the basket.

Once fouled, once dangled, it's clear that Jokic was arranged by the Spurs.

When Jokic came to the Pelicans, Tang Tian was worried that he would be targeted because of defensive problems, so he started to lose weight early.

Now that the weight loss is not complete, he faced the Spurs in advance, and Popovich gave him a "rookie wall" gift.

Kerr's catch-and-basket was interfered with by Embes, and Dior turned to the basket to recreate one of Jokic's hitters.

Williams called Reggie Evans up.

In this game, Jokic was targeted by the Spurs too obviously, and there shouldn't be many chances.

Although Popovich called a timeout after two rounds in the second quarter, looking back, the timing of the timeout was just right.

Jokic couldn't play, the Pelicans' firepower off the bench was a little out of line, and the Spurs extended their lead to eight points with several waves of offense and defense.

Williams called a timeout, and when he came back, he replaced his main players one after another.

Tang Tian hit a three-pointer on the re-entry, but Gasol responded with a big two-point shot at the free-throw line.

Davis scored a strong attack under the basket, and Green also scored a three-pointer from Gasol Jr. Gasol's hand-handed pass.

After a season of training last season, Green and Leonard have grown to the strength of the Spurs team in history of 13~14.

Coupled with Big Gasol, this year's Spurs are really strong.

At halftime, the Spurs led the Pelicans 53-41.

It was the Pelicans' toughest half since the start of the season.

At halftime, players from both sides returned to the locker room one after another.

The atmosphere in the Pelicans' locker room was a bit dreary.

They had only lost to the Celtics once before, but that one was a late quarter when they were out of shape, unlike the situation in which they were pressed and played.

That's what makes a young team, and the emotions are all written on their faces.

Tang Tian was not too surprised when he saw his teammates' reactions.

Last season, the Pelicans just formed a team, and the whole team was riveting, thinking about nothing and doing nothing, losing and winning.

That's a real newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers.

But after the strength of this season comes up, everyone has expectations for the results, and the inner thoughts are definitely different.

That's a good thing, after all, you can't win a championship with brute force alone.

It's just that the situation in front of me is a bit depressing.

"Guys."

Tang Tian stood up at this time.

He spoke, and the rest of the locker room looked at him.

He's the boss of the team and the soul of the team.

"You know what? I supported Williams last season when he said we were aiming for a championship, but I can't imagine what it would be like when we won because we were really a long way from that.

But when he said that after training camp this season, I already had that image in my head, the same image I had when I was in San Antonio, because this season, we really have that quality. ”

After Tang Tian finished speaking, some of the team members nodded and some laughed.

Obviously, Tang Tian's words resonated with them.

"But the road to winning the championship is always full of difficulties and bumps."

As he said this, the conversation suddenly changed.

"Our game against the Spurs isn't just about the game in front of us, or we shouldn't be looking at the outcome of the game in front of us."

He spoke in an accentuated tone.

"If we want to win the championship, we're going to meet the Spurs in the playoffs, in the semifinals, in the finals, we're going to meet them.

At that time, we were playing a series, seven games.

They are the strongest team this season and Popovich is the most experienced and quality coach.

Believe me, we're going to have a tougher situation than this.

We want to win them, one game, two games, a series, and all we have to learn is how to play this kind of game.

We must have a firm heart, a heart to do every detail well, a heart to never give up, and do everything perfectly, so that we can defeat them.

They're not just referring to the Spurs, maybe any other team that is stronger than the Spurs.

Guys, that's the road to champions. ”