Barkley's comments on the show resonated with many fans.

Many also recalled Randolph's words before the series began, that this was the kind of game the Grizzlies excelled at.

The longer it dragged on, the more it was in their rhythm, and the greater their chances of winning.

With one day left before the next game, the Pelicans were actively preparing in New Orleans.

Compared to before the playoffs started, or after the first game of the series, the Pelicans' morale had noticeably declined.

Moreover, the series of off-court factors that had occurred in the past two days had also somewhat affected the Pelicans' morale.

After training that day, the players went back to rest one after another.

Tang Tian, Davis, Ariza, and Holiday stayed at the arena for extra practice.

After practicing for a while, Holiday and Ariza continued to shoot three-pointers, while Tang Tian and Davis rested on the sidelines.

Davis was dripping with sweat.

In the past four games, he had averaged 18.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks, with improvements in both statistics and efficiency compared to last year.

However, like the Pelicans' wins and losses, his performance had also fluctuated significantly.

This was determined by his current technical characteristics.

His more consistent scoring methods now were shooting and alley-oops, and although he had started to increase low-post isolation plays at the beginning of the season, they were still immature.

Especially against teams like the Grizzlies, immature scoring methods were as good as none.

Davis wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Tang, are we going to be like last year?"

Tang Tian turned to look when he heard Davis say that.

This was to be expected.

The scene of losing last year was too memorable for Davis, and now that they were forced to a 2-2 tie, it would be abnormal for Davis not to worry.

"No."

Tang Tian gave a calm and affirmative answer.

Davis turned to look at him, wanting to hear what he would say next.

"The last game was just a collective slump in the team's shooting percentage. If it hadn't been like that, we would have already been leading 3-1."

Tang Tian said with a smile.

A collective slump in shooting percentage, like their collective explosion in the first game, was unlikely to happen a second time.

And looking at Ariza and Holiday still practicing, their attitude also determined that such a thing would not continue to happen.

Davis nodded, but there was still some worry in his eyes.

Seeing his reaction, Tang Tian smiled and reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

"Ad, I guarantee you, we will win this series."

Tang Tian's words were very absolute, and Davis rarely heard him say such things.

But precisely because it was rare, he believed it, from the bottom of his heart.

He also nodded firmly.

The day before the game, the Pelicans scheduled their last training session before the game.

Team general manager Dell Demps and team president Dennis Lauscha came to the training site.

They were there to cheer on the players.

The presence of the management was obviously effective, and the Pelicans players were much more motivated during training.

Because the team had no training scheduled for tomorrow, Tang Tian also gave the players a pre-game pep talk in the locker room after training.

"What's next is a best-of-three series. Forget the previous four games. Starting with the next game, believe in yourselves. We won't experience the same failure twice, just like against the Spurs, just like I said before, we are on the road to Champion's Heart, we will definitely win."

The presence of the management, coupled with Tang Tian's motivational speech, greatly boosted the morale of the players.

On the day of Game 5, the Pelicans did not schedule training, and Tang Tian accompanied Olsen to the hospital for a prenatal checkup.

He also got the first ultrasound photo of his child.

To Tang Tian's surprise, after the ultrasound photo came out, although it was very blurry, he could still see the baby's prototype inside.

It was obviously more than one baby, but two intertwined.

Tang Tian had been preparing for pregnancy for two months, and this shot directly resulted in twins!

Although it was too early to determine the gender of the children, the number was completely certain!

This made things very exciting.

Either he would score two consecutive hits and have two sons, or he would brick two shots in a row and have two daughters, or it could be twins, and he would have both a son and a daughter at once.

Tang Tian and Olsen were both very excited, after all, they were about to become parents of two children at once.

After Tang Tian sent the photo to his parents, he also uploaded the photo to social media.

This news immediately exploded on social media.

Kobe, Yao Ming, Curry, Walker, Thompson, Butler, Emma Watson and others all liked and forwarded it.

The news of Olsen's pregnancy was known to people all over the world in a short time.

"Tang is only 22 years old now, and he will only be 40 years old when they are adults. With Tang's ability, he may still be in the league at that time. Can we see them appear on the NBA court together as father and son?"

"The premise is that one of them is a son... Now Tang plays like Kobe, if he also scores like Kobe in this area..."

"No way! My Tang will never brick two shots in a row, rest assured, they are all sons, when they grow up, one will play center, one will play point guard, and form a big three with my Tang!"

"Full of imagery, but I hope one of them is a son, after all, we can't be too extravagant, haha!"

……

The whole world was congratulating Tang Tian on the birth of his twins, and the Pelicans players were no exception.

When Tang Tian arrived at the arena on the day of the game, his teammates even prepared champagne to celebrate for him.

If the previous series of off-court events had dampened the Pelicans' morale, then this off-court event was undoubtedly a good boost to the team's morale.

Now the Pelicans' morale had basically returned to before the series began, and they were full of confidence in the game.

That night, Game 5 of the series between the Pelicans and the Grizzlies officially kicked off at the New Orleans Arena.

The pivotal Game 5, the most critical game to determine the direction of the series, the New Orleans Arena was packed, and TNT's Big Three also appeared at the commentary booth.

The three of them had the same attitude as before.

O'Neal was still full of confidence in the Pelicans, but Smith and Barkley were not optimistic.

"They will lose this game by a large margin."

Barkley was even more of a bigmouth as usual, making a bold statement before the game.

The arena quickly entered the opening ceremony, and the starting lineups of the two teams took the stage one after another.

The Pelicans' side was still the regular starting five, while the Grizzlies' side had adjustments, with Green directly replacing Allen in the starting lineup.

During the opening ceremony, the Pelicans' starters looked energetic.

Barkley's heart ached when he saw it. This didn't look like a team in a bad situation!

But he had already spoken out, and he wouldn't easily change his mind.

After the opening ceremony, there was a short warm-up.

At this moment, some fans noticed that Jokic was also warming up with the team, and it seemed that he was not far from returning.

This greatly increased the confidence of the fans on the scene, and also gave Barkley an increasingly ominous premonition.

ps: Special thanks to 爱_睡觉的 for the ten thousand reward!!