Trailing by 20 points at halftime, it was a home game, but it was already very difficult for the Trail Blazers to recover the score.

In the third quarter, they tried hard to chase the score, and Lillard frequently attacked the basket and caused Whiteside to foul in a row, knocking the opponent off the court early.

They found their groove on the offensive end and scored 30 points in a single quarter.

But compared to offense, their inability to defend the Pelicans is the bigger problem.

Tang Tian scored another 10 points in this quarter, and after the third quarter, he had already scored 27 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

At the end of the third quarter, the Pelicans continued to lead 85-65.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the main forces of both sides rested off the court.

Tang Tian and Davis on the side talked and laughed, just like in the preseason.

A big win in the opener would be a great start to the season for them.

But at this moment, the situation on the field changed abruptly.

Trail Blazers sophomore CJ McCollum burst out.

He exploded to 11 points in just five minutes to help the Trail Blazers close the deficit to within 15 points.

Williams was forced to call a timeout.

As he got up, Tang Tian glanced at McCollum, who was cheering with his teammates.

Speaking of which, McCollum is also one of the most inspirational players in the NBA.

It's just that his motivation is not quite the same as others.

This is a player who was only 1.58 meters tall when he was a freshman in high school.

Basketball is a sport of talent, and if you don't reach 1.6 meters in high school, then you basically can't take the basketball path.

Not to mention thinking about playing in the NBA, that's just a dream.

Most people probably give up basketball at this point and move on to something else.

But McCollum didn't give up, he chose to continue honing his skills and made it to the high school varsity team with his excellent dribbling skills!

A high school student who is less than 1.6 meters tall, he looks like an 8-year-old child in a school-level competition.

Even in a game, he received several times more cynicism than others, and I don't know how many people around him persuaded him to give up.

But he persevered to the end, and God opened a window for him as if he saw his efforts.

It took him three years in high school to grow a full 34 centimeters from 1.57 meters! Grown to 1.91 meters!

His persistence paid off, and his dribbling skills were as good as ever, which allowed him to finally open the doors of the NCAA and NBA.

Now this inspirational player is causing a lot of trouble for the Pelicans.

After returning from the timeout, Williams had to replace his main man early.

Whiteside was plagued by foul fouls and Jokic remained on the court.

There was also a wave of substitutions on the Trail Blazers' side, with all the main players except Batum coming back, and McCollum was left on the court for a good performance.

Tang Tian received the ball in the front court and took the initiative to beckon Davis to come up and play the block.

The Trailblazers didn't dare to change or clip, Tang Tian grabbed the space that was blocked and dismantled and directly pulled out his hand to hit.

The goal helped the Pelicans re-stretch the deficit to 15 points.

Returning to the head, Lillard took the initiative to play the ball to McCollum, who caught the ball and hit a speed difference layup against Jokic.

Although his body looks thin and not very strong, his scoring ability is really good.

Pelicans offense.

After Tang Tian held the ball in the front court, this time he beckoned Ariza to come over to block the demolition.

McCollum's story is inspiring, but the NBA arena is brutal.

Ariza took Matthews away after the demolition, and Don Tian singled McCollum.

He shook and broke inside, and McCollum kept up.

Jokic was smart at this time, using his block to jam Lopez and prevent the latter from coming to help defend.

Tang Tian carried McCollum to the basket and jumped directly.

"Bang!"

He forced the ball into the basket through McCollum!

McCollum's thin body was jacked off the field.

The scene was in an uproar.

Tang Tian showed no mercy to McCollum at all.

Being dunked, McCollum's mentality was somewhat affected, and he returned to the offensive end with his outside three-point shot missed.

Turning around, Tang Tian misplaced and hit him again, and a shaky pull-out three-point shot directly wiped out the Trail Blazers' hope of chasing points.

In the end, the Pelicans maintained their advantage until the end, defeating the Trail Blazers 109-93 to get the season off to a good start.

For the Trail Blazers, Lillard scored a team-high 26 points, but he shot only 9-of-23, Aldridge had 23 points and 11 boards, and McCollum contributed 15 points and two assists.

On the Pelicans' side, six players scored in double figures, Davis had 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, Holiday had 15 points and six assists, Jokic had 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Ariza and each team had 12 points each.

Tang Tian made 12 of 20 shots and scored a game-high 32 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

He's scored a lot of points, but he didn't take many shots, and anyone who watched the game could tell that he scored a lot easier than last season.

That's what happens when you break through.

Defenders have become more difficult than ever to defend against him and shots.

Of course, what impressed the fans the most was his two dunks.

once dunked Matthews and once dunked McCollum, making fans think that he was possessed by Westbrook for a while.

After the game, Tang Tian was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines as the MVP of the game.

As he spoke, he suddenly felt someone approaching behind him.

He thought it was Ci Shiping's guy who poured water on him again, so he moved his head directly to hide.

"Smack!"

As a result, I didn't expect it to be a force on the buttocks.

He looked back a little angrily.

You have to know that there is such a thing as swinging his hips, and he was also photographed by the guy Ginobili when he was in San Antonio.

Ci Shiping, this guy......

Forehead!

He turned his head and found that it was not Ci Shiping, but Davis!

Thick eyebrows, big eyes, full of smiles.

He looked shocked.

It was hard for him to imagine that it was Davis who was just now?!

Seeing Tang Tian's expression, Davis pointed to his head, and then ran away.

The meaning is obvious, Tang Tian touched his head for a season last season, and now he is going to take revenge with a buttocks pat!

After Tang Tian came to his senses, he couldn't cry or laugh all of a sudden.

I don't know why, but he always feels like he's still playing for the Spurs.

After being interviewed by reporters, Tang Tian did not go back to the locker room, but went directly to the post-game press conference with Borrego.

Davis didn't come, and Williams sat there early with Jokic.

It can be seen that he is happy with Jokic's performance.

The press conference began quickly, and the first to ask questions was a reporter from a local media outlet in Portland.

"The team's starting center, Whiteside, only had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Jokic did well off the bench, are you going to put Jokic in the starting lineup next game?"

The Trail Blazers' loss upset local fans, and this reporter should have been one of them, and he asked a very provocative question.

If the answer to this question is yes, then Whiteside will definitely be hit, and the opposite answer is no, then it is Jokic on the side who will be hit.

Williams didn't know how to answer for a moment.

'Whiteside was our starting centre-forward and as a team-mate I'm sure he'll be back in form very quickly.'

Tang Tian took the microphone and replied at this time.