Two days later, the Pelicans hosted the Clippers for their first meeting of the season.

The Clippers have been reborn defensively this season after the introduction of Rivers, and the team has also grown.

They currently have a 12-5 record behind the Thunder and Spurs and are in third place in the West.

The Pelicans have just finished in the top eight, and it will undoubtedly be difficult to play against such a strong team.

However, Tang Tian is still the Pelicans' biggest advantage.

Although the combination of Jason Smith and Davis fell below in front of the combination of Jordan Jr. and Griffin.

But the Clippers couldn't limit Tang Tian's play well.

Whether it's Willie Green on the guard line, Matt Barnes or Jarred Dudley at the forward position, the defensive strength is far inferior to the Warriors' Iguodala and Thompson.

Not to mention the likes of JJ Reddick.

Tang Tian scored as many as 25 points in the third quarter, helping the Pelicans keep the margin within single digits.

However, at the most critical moment of the fourth quarter, Gordon's two consecutive missed shots caused the Pelicans to collapse.

The Pelicans also lost 91-106 in the end.

Tang Tian scored 31 points and 3 assists this time.

After the game, reporters interviewed Griffin, the interior core of the Clippers, on the sidelines, who scored a big double-double of 25 points and 15 rebounds in this game.

"Does beating the Pelicans excite you even more? Because Don is also on this team. ”

The reporter's question is a bit skinny, Tang Tian has played for the Spurs for the past two years, and the Clippers have also been ravaged by the Spurs.

"No, it's just a normal regular season game for us, and the Pelicans aren't our main competitors."

Griffin's answer was succinct, he didn't seem to have the Pelicans in his eyes, let alone Tang Tian's name.

Losing to the Clippers is not unacceptable for the current Pelicans, but this way of losing is a little embarrassing.

Williams felt it.

At the end of the next day's training session, he called Gordon to his office.

'Eric, you need more possession, you need to dominate the ball to your advantage, you're not a goalscorer and you need to shoot to find form, so I'm going to talk to the coaching staff and I'm going to make you the sixth man in the team.

"Trust me, I know what you're thinking, and I'm thinking about it from your point of view, you're very good at scoring, but your height is easy to target, and you get off the bench and you're going to help the team a lot."

'Of course, we all know what you're capable of, so you're still going to be the team's choice on the pitch at the last moment, and trust me, it's the best way to get you out of the performance you're in and you can still prove yourself.'

Williams is very good at developing players, and this stems from his excellent interpersonal skills.

He was always able to make the people with whom he communicated understand that what he said was in their interest.

The NBA is a business league, and for players, no matter what they do, the ultimate goal is to make more money.

Williams' words were very convincing and persuasive.

Gordon was eventually convinced.

Williams has a point.

Tang Tian is playing so well now, the Pelicans can't make him the main point of attack anymore, rather than grabbing the right to shoot with Tang Tian in the starting lineup, and exposing the weakness of his poor defense, it is better to go to the bench as the sixth man.

In this way, he is still the team's first choice for at least most of the time on the field.

And Williams also gave him the assurance of being there when it mattered.

Coupled with Tang Tian's kind of behavior against the Warriors, he finally agreed.

Gordon agreed, and Williams announced the team's new starting lineup during the next day's training session.

On the outside are Holiday and Morrow, on the front line are Tang Tian and Davis, and center Jason Smith.

After announcing the new starting lineup, the coaching staff also made new demands on Aminu, asking him to practice three-point shooting.

The original starting lineup, Gordon and Anderson's three-point shooting was very stable, and now they both play off the bench, and the Pelicans' three-point ability will be a problem.

No one in modern basketball is held back from outside the three-point line, and they will be targeted.

That's why the coaching staff temporarily arranged for Morrow to start.

But this is not a long-term solution, because of the physical condition, Morrow's defense has not been very good, and it is unlikely to get better.

In contrast, Aminu's defensive ability is much better, but his problem is that the three-point inconsistency.

Compared to Holiday who is responsible for playmaking, and Davis as an interior lineman, Aminu is more likely to practice consistent three-pointers.

And if you really dig deeper, Aminu also averaged 1.8 shots per game and shot 32% from the field in his rookie season with the Trail Blazers.

It's just that the Pelicans coaching staff didn't need him to shoot after that, and it slowly degenerated.

This decision was met with a positive response from the majority of the team members.

Gordon's performance in the last game actually hurt the team, and Tang Tian has actually proved that he is one of the core of the team with more than a month of performance.

And there is an upside to this arrangement, Gordon and Anderson both went to the bench, and the Pelicans' originally weak bench strength has become stronger.

The day after the starting changes, the Pelicans embarked on their five-game road trip in the East.

The first opponent of the game was the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks are in a rebuilding period, with last season's core Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings both departing and now leaderless.

They are 3-15 and sit at the bottom of the East.

Against such an opponent, it is undoubtedly a good thing for the Pelicans, who have just adjusted their starters.

The result was not too surprising.

Tang Tian scored 21 points in the third quarter, and the Pelicans finally beat their opponents by 20 points.

Morrow, who entered the starter, delivered 4 three-pointers and 12 points in the first game, and in terms of three-point ability, he is actually more stable than Tang Tiandu.

The victory in this game was expected, and the only hiccup was probably the envious look at Tang Tian at the end of the game by the teenager Antetokounmpo.

For young players, Tang Tiancai became the core of the team in the third year, which is enviable.

After playing the Bucks, the Pelicans followed suit with the Pacers, who are second in the East.

The first three quarters of the game were intense, but by the fourth quarter the Pelicans were significantly worse in experience, and ultimately lost to the Pacers by 16 points.

Although he lost, Tang Tian's performance was still remarkable, and he scored a team-high 30 points and 4 assists on 11-of-24 shooting.

After a two-day break, they continued their road trip to the East, this time back-to-back.

They went against the top eight Raptors and Hawks.

The Raptors are now third in the East, but the Pelicans pulled off an upset after four quarters of intense battle.

Tang Tian scored 36 points, 7 assists and 3 steals on 12-of-29 shooting in this game, blowing up DeRozan and Guy on the opposite side.

Gordon and Anderson on the bench also showed bench quality, scoring 16 and 14 points, respectively.

The win boosted the Pelicans' morale and proved that the coaching staff was right.