Winning Game Three of the series was undoubtedly a huge boost for the Pelicans.

The players were also looking forward to taking a 3-1 lead back to New Orleans and closing out the series at home.

"Just treat Zach Randolph like a fart and let him rip."

That's what Tang Tian said to Whiteside before Game Four of the series.

Randolph's trash talk was trash talk, but it wasn't too dirty.

The worst kind is when it involves racial discrimination or directly disrespecting someone's parents or daughters. Tang Tian would definitely support Whiteside then.

But everything else is really a test of a player's ability to adjust mentally on the court.

In the NBA, especially on the playoff stage, it's unavoidable.

So Tang Tian was mostly working on Whiteside's mental state.

Whiteside listened, and in Game Four of the series, he wasn't provoked by Randolph anymore.

The Pelicans' interior defense was also noticeably better than the previous game.

But this time, the problem was with the Pelicans themselves.

The rims at the FedExForum seemed to have a lid on them tonight, and the Pelicans' shooters couldn't throw the ball in no matter what.

That's the characteristic of a young team. They can shoot 60% from three-point range like in Game One, or they can collectively get lost.

If the Pelicans' shooters couldn't make their shots, the Grizzlies could double-team Tang Tian like crazy.

Tang Tian's scoring efficiency wasn't high under the double-team either. The Pelicans eventually lost in the fourth quarter, and the Grizzlies tied the score at 2-2.

And to make matters worse, Tang Tian hurt his finger when he was double-teamed.

Although it wasn't as serious as last year, it would definitely affect his shooting touch in the next game.

A 2-2 score, Tang Tian's injured finger, it all looked so similar to last year.

The Pelicans' chances of advancing became unpredictable again.

As expected, playing the Grizzlies in the playoffs is like losing a layer of skin even if you don't die; it wasn't just a joke.

The good news was that Game Five of the series, the pivotal game, wouldn't be played until three days later, which would give the Pelicans time to adjust.

At this time, the first-round series was mostly over.

In the other matchups, the Hawks were also forced into a 2-2 tie by the Celtics. The Hawks' style of play was greatly restricted in the playoffs, and Stevens' coaching was impressive.

The Cavaliers swept the Bucks 4-0. Antetokounmpo was hammered by James. News reports said that he continued to practice until dawn after Game Four.

The Knicks and the Wizards were tied at 2-2. Pierce showed his superstar style, contributing game-winning shots in two consecutive games to keep the Wizards alive.

The Bulls led the Raptors 3-1. The "garbage brothers" lived up to their name in the playoffs.

On the Western side, the Lakers fans' hopes for the advantage of experience didn't work at all. The Warriors swept the Lakers cleanly 4-0. The "five small" lineup looked invincible, and the Splash Brothers' touch was extremely heaven-defying.

The Spurs also led the Trail Blazers 3-1. With Lillard's heaven-defying 40+, Portland barely stole a victory. The gap between the two sides was obvious, and the Spurs looked very likely to complete a four-year, three-championship dynasty.

The most unexpected thing was the matchup between the Rockets and the Clippers. Harden was sleepwalking in the playoffs, and they were already 1-3 behind the Clippers, only one game away from being eliminated.

At this moment, the league announced the winners of two season awards.

In the Sixth Man of the Year voting, the Pelicans' Gordon ultimately only ranked fourth.

The award was eventually won by the Raptors' Louis Williams, who received an exaggerated 60% of the vote, winning with an overwhelming advantage.

And in the Best Coach of the Year voting that followed, the Pelicans missed out again.

The Hawks' coach, Budenholzer, beat out Steve Kerr and Williams to be named the season's best coach.

This result caused a lot of controversy.

In addition to Williams missing out on the Best Coach award for the second consecutive year, Kerr's failure to be selected was puzzling.

Kerr led the Warriors to a 67-win season, the best record in team history, in his debut season.

Tang Tian sent his former coach congratulations as soon as he saw the news.

The result was a bit unexpected, but it also made sense.

Both Kerr and Williams had a disadvantage: both the Warriors and the Pelicans were playoff teams last season.

What the two of them did was to take the team's record to the next level.

Although both teams broke their regular season records, they both performed very well, and would most likely have won the award in a normal season.

But Budenholzer's performance was even more eye-catching. He took a team that had 38 wins last season and increased it to 60 wins, an increase of 22 games, second only to the Pelicans last year.

Moreover, the Hawks' core lineup was basically unchanged from last season.

So it wasn't that Kerr and Williams weren't good enough, it was just that Budenholzer's performance was really a bit of a bug.

The Pelicans missed out on the awards one after another, which was another blow to their morale.

And just at this time, an ESPN reporter asked about something in a recent interview.

In the middle of the season, Adam Silver had accepted Tang Tian's suggestion and said that the league would pilot team challenges to referee calls.

Now the pilot program had finally produced results.

"We saw the results, it made the game longer and more disjointed, and we haven't seen anything viable yet."

That was Adam Silver's final decision.

The appearance of these two things together made some optimistic fans realize one thing.

Adam Silver, or the league, really had no intention of supporting the Pelicans. Their previous actions were just no longer targeting the Pelicans.

These news stories also became the material for the latest episode of TNT's show.

"They seem to be having a run of bad luck, they're in trouble."

After summarizing these things, Barkley made such a judgment on the Pelicans' situation.

"No, rest assured, they will win the series."

Although McGee's previous incident led many fans to believe that O'Neal would change his attitude, it seemed that he still supported Tang Tian and the Pelicans.

"Shaq, this time I really have to remind you, they are really in a bad situation."

Barkley also insisted on his own point of view.

"Let's assume that they will not be affected by these off-court factors. Haven't you noticed one thing? The Pelicans are in the same situation as last year. They have been dragged to Game 5 by the Grizzlies, and maybe there will be Game 6 and Game 7 later.

This is their ability, to drag you into the mud, and then slowly let you lose the ability to struggle, and finally kill you. The Pelicans have experienced all of this last season."

Barkley's analysis drew a nod from Smith in agreement.

"Will history repeat itself? Yes."

Barkley concluded himself.

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