After the opening ceremony, the starters of both teams appeared one after another.

The Pelicans, on their side, have a regular lineup, with the only change being Jokic starting in place of Whiteside.

On the Knicks' side, Calderon and Tim Hardaway Jr. on the outside, Anthony and Bagnani on the front, and Howard at center.

Howard jumped to Davis, giving the Knicks the opportunity to take the offense.

Calderon dribbled to the frontcourt and gave the ball to the basket for Howard to play alone.

Howard has played second only to the Magic at his peak with the Knicks this season.

In addition to the good recovery from the back injury, the more important point is that there is more possession and the play is happier.

He chiseled Jokic to the basket and turned for a hook hand.

Straight up and straight down hard hook hand, the technique is still rough, the basketball smashes to the edge of the basket and bounces.

But Jokic's weight loss is not yet complete, and he is under the full range against Howard.

Howard pressed Jokic to pick up an offensive rebound and score on a second layup.

There was a stirring of fans on the sidelines.

Jokic's defense is a bit worse than Whiteside's.

Sure enough, Whiteside's absence had a big impact on the Pelicans.

However, Jokic didn't feel any emotional turmoil from a failed defense.

Just like Tang Tian knew before, although he looks white and soft, his temperament on the field is very tough.

The Pelicans attacked the frontcourt, as soon as Tang Tiangang held the ball, Hardaway defended, and Anthony on the weak side helped defend him.

Tang Tian cut 3 consecutive 50+ games before the All-Star Game, and now this defensive style has become his standard.

He passes the ball to Ariza.

The Knicks' defense rotated relatively quickly, and Ariza didn't have a chance to shoot and returned the ball to Tang Tian.

After Tang Tian received the ball, he changed direction and broke through, and when he saw Anthony coming over again, he turned around and threw a shot backwards.

The ball slammed into the front of the basket and rolled in a few times.

The ball is a balloon.

Anthony takes the ball upcourt, motions to pull it away, and then gives it to Howard.

Woodson isn't an offensive coach, but he's done a good job of catching weaknesses in the opposition's lineup.

Howard continued to hit Jokic hard, turning around and then hitting the board.

However, Davis showed his talent, he quickly helped to defend to the basket, directly gave Howard a pegboard hat, and also took the defensive rebound.

The scene erupted in cheers.

Davis' talent is really strong.

The Pelicans attacked the frontcourt, Tang Tian continued to attack with the ball, and stepped back to meet Anthony's dry jump shot.

"Bang dang!"

The basketball smashed into the frame, and Howard jumped high to collect the rebound.

After two rounds, Tang Tian already knew that his hand was not good, and the effect of such a strong attack was average.

The Knicks played to the frontcourt, this time switching to Calderon with the ball, and Anthony ran out of tactics and made a jump shot to receive the pass.

"Huh!"

Basketball hollow into the net.

4 to 2, after the Knicks finished the run-in, the strength was indeed stronger than when the two sides met for the first time.

Holiday held the ball to the front court and gave the ball to Tang Tian, who directly gave the ball to Jokic and motioned to the latter to organize the offense.

When you don't feel good, it's a good choice to attack differently.

Ariza pulled to the bottom corner, and Tang Tian and Davis cut into the basket from both sides.

The Knicks shrink defensively.

Tang Tian ran back to the high position in reverse.

That's when the Knicks' weaknesses were exposed.

Their lineup on the court is average defensively, even aside from Woodson's system, Anthony's defense is average, and Calderon and Bagnani are even more defensive black holes.

This time, it is obviously slow to come out.

Jokic was fast and gave the ball to Tang Tian as soon as possible.

Tang Tian received a great opportunity and shot a dry jumper.

"Huh!"

Basketball hollow into the net.

Aside from the defensive intensity, talking about the feel is a hooligan, Tang Tian's poor feel is that under the high-intensity defense, he is still stable with this kind of almost empty ball.

He was responsible for the team's opening four points.

After the goal, he pointed at Jokic.

The Pelicans' starting lineup was almost perfect, but it lacked a second playmaking point to help Tang share the pressure.

Holiday and Davis were almost off the hook, and Jokic was just right for that ball.

The last time the two partnered was when they played the Rockets, and Tang Tian shot a very comfortable three-pointer at that time.

Counting this time, the chemistry between the two is really there as soon as it comes.

The Knicks ran again in the frontcourt, and this time Ariza followed closely and didn't give Anthony an easy shot.

Anthony received the ball and signaled to pull away, and the tactic changed to singles.

After a series of tentative steps to turn around after a series of hits, Ariza clinged to the defense.

However, Anthony suddenly turned around in a washing machine and turned over and jumped.

"Huh!"

Basketball is scored after it is shot.

Anthony's knee injury has taken a lime down after losing weight this season, and he's back to being the all-powerful offensive kaleidoscope he used to be.

6-4, the Knicks are in great shape tonight, and this is really coming for revenge.

Holiday got to the front court with the ball and gave it to Jokic.

Tang Tian accelerated to get rid of Hardaway and cut into the basket.

Jokic made a nice hit to the ground.

Tang Tian catches the ball and kills the basket.

The Knicks quickly shrank defense.

Under the basket, Howard also quickly retreated to the basket.

Tang Tian's confrontation is excellent, but he also has to divide who he is against, and there is definitely no advantage in resisting Howard.

He looked back at the moon and threw the ball directly to the top of the arc.

Jokic dropped to the top of the arc outside the three-point line as soon as he finished passing.

Because Jokic played as a substitute before, this kind of placement is not a tactical arrangement, it is completely Jokic's own awareness and judgment.

The ball was delivered to Jokic accurately, Howard couldn't pounce, and Jokic raised his hand to shoot a three-pointer.

The ball's trajectory is high, but the parabola looks positive.

"Huh!"

He hit on his first shot!

7-6, the Pelicans overtook the score again!

The scene erupted in cheers.

Jokic sent Tang Tian a second pass in advance, and Tang Tian immediately returned the favor in the next round.

Anthony missed a pullup jumper, and Howard grabbed a rebound in the frontcourt and caused Jokic to be fouled defensively.

With both free throws missed, Jokic defended the defensive rebound.

In the frontcourt, Davis and Tang Tian's running positions restrained the Knicks' main defensive energy.

Jokic turned to the basket and tricked Howard into a fake shot, turning around and putting the ball in the basket easily.

Although he was on the lower end of the defensive end against Howard, he played very confidently and effectively on the offensive end.

With more than nine minutes into the first quarter, the Pelicans led the Knicks 30-21.

Jokic and Tang Tian were both substituted for the break.

Tang Tian had 10 points and 3 assists, and Jokic had 5 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Two of the pair's three assists were passes to each other.

The chemical reaction between the two is not only there, but also the kind with a catalyst, which comes fast and fierce!

ps: I'm not a very powerful person, just an ordinary person, like you, sometimes the mentality will fluctuate, ups and downs, but I will try my best to ensure the quality, I haven't noticed it myself, this book has been 1.3 million words unconsciously, the number of words in the last book is almost over, I have written a book of 2 million words at most in the past few years, but this book has just reached the middle of the year, the number of words should be certain, I will try to calm down the mentality, and continue to move towards the goal of 3 million words, Thank you to everyone who is still supporting, one per person, love you.