Paul was forced to foul Tang Tian.

Tang Tian was sent to the free throw line with two free throw opportunities.

If he made both, he would directly seal the game.

"MVP! MVP!"

As Tang Tian shot the free throws, the crowd chanted "MVP."

The Pelicans were promoting Tang Tian for MVP, and the fans in New Orleans knew it.

Tonight, Tang Tian already had 21 points and 8 assists. His scoring wasn't the highest, and even his overall stats weren't the best on the team.

But he really played the role a core player should, staying calm during the conflict, guiding Davis's growth, and remaining steady in crucial moments.

He deserved this cheer.

Amid the MVP chants, Tang Tian steadily made both free throws, completely extinguishing the Clippers' hopes of winning.

In the end, the Pelicans defeated the Clippers at home with a score of 105-98, extending their series lead to 2-1.

Davis had a big explosion this game, contributing 30 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 blocks, completely dominating Griffin in their matchup. Griffin only had 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Tang Tian had 23 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, Gordon had 13 points, Holiday had 11 points and 7 assists, Anderson had 9 points, and Evans had 2 points and 10 rebounds.

For the Clippers, Paul had 28 points and 9 assists, and Crawford had 19 points.

After the game, the Pelicans fans in the arena cheered for a long time.

After experiencing a game filled with biased calls and conflicts, the feeling of winning was indescribably satisfying.

And more importantly, Davis played really hard after being stepped over!

Being able to perform like this when he was weaker than Griffin was really impressive.

In contrast, the Clippers provoked the conflict themselves and then lost the game, truly losing both the game and face.

After the game, Davis was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines.

When asked about the reason for his outburst tonight, Davis was quite honest.

"It was Tang. He told me how to deal with this kind of conflict. He guided me to respond to my opponents with my performance on the court. He helped me grow."

Davis was all smiles as he spoke, and these words were truly from the bottom of his heart.

He now had hair and a beard, which made him look much more pleasing than before, and also much more adorable.

Coupled with that serious and innocent expression, the reporters were amused by him.

"Tonight you had 7 blocks, which is a playoff, oh right, and also a career high for you. How do you feel?"

The reporter continued to ask.

"Yes."

Davis said, holding out his hand. His hand was a little red.

"To be honest, my hand is a little sore now. I blocked more than 7 times, and some were called fouls, but those also hit the ball."

The reporter really burst out laughing this time.

Davis was really too adorable!

Tang Tian was not far behind him at this time, and he burst out laughing when he heard Davis's answer.

He suddenly felt more and more that Davis had the potential to be a Spurs-system player!

Or rather, this guy looked a bit like Duncan no matter how you looked at it.

Davis's interview ended and he went back to the locker room with Tang Tian.

When they got to the locker room, the teammates couldn't help but splash water on him and celebrate.

Tonight, Davis won more than just the stats. He defeated Griffin, who was stronger than him, head-on, and that was the most important thing.

After celebrating with his teammates, Davis sat on the bench with a smile, wiping the water from his hair with a towel.

This was probably the most willing he'd ever been to get wet.

Just then, Tang Tian walked over and directly touched his head.

Davis had been dodging his head touches before, but this time he finally caught the opportunity while he was sitting down.

To be honest, after being touched by Duncan a lot when he was with the Spurs, and after seeing Duncan's shadow on Davis, it was only right for him to touch him.

He couldn't touch Duncan back, so touching Duncan's shadow wasn't bad either!

Davis dodged and got up, then took the towel and ran to the shower room.

He still remembered Gordon's reminder, he didn't want to go bald like Ginobili in the future!

Tang Tian smiled and shook his head.

He remembered when Duncan touched him in the past, there was no way to avoid that.

The playoffs were in full swing, and at this time, the league's first batch of awards came out.

The first to be announced were the Best Coach, Best General Manager, and Best Defensive Player.

This year's Best Coach candidates were all very strong.

Popovich still led the team to 60 wins after losing Tang Tian. He really took system basketball to the extreme this season.

Monty Williams took the Pelicans from 27 wins to 52 wins, the biggest difference in the league with 25 games.

The Bulls' Thibodeau was also very competitive. After losing Rose, Thibodeau still led the Bulls to third place in the East.

In the end, Popovich won the Best Coach with 380 total points, narrowly beating Williams's 339 points.

This was also the 3rd time he had won the Best Coach in 4 years, unmatched by anyone.

Williams's loss was a bit of a pity, but Popovich deserved the honor.

You have to know that he lost the Finals MVP from last season this season, and also got the best record in the league this season.

This was probably something only he could do.

And the Pelicans' improved record was more related to the team's signings, so Williams's loss to Popovich wasn't a grievance.

But the Pelicans fans weren't too disappointed, because in the options announced later, the Pelicans had a double whammy.

In the Best General Manager competition, Dell Demps defeated the Spurs' Buford and successfully won the Best General Manager award.

This season, the Pelicans' improved record was really inseparable from Demps's contribution.

The addition of Tang Tian and Holiday, and even the later signings of Evans and Whiteside and Cole, were all powerful boosts to the team.

Of course, only Demps himself knew the role Tang Tian played behind the scenes.

This was by no means a bad thing for Tang Tian. Demps, who won the honor, would only become more dependent on Tang Tian.

After seeing these two news, Tang Tian successively sent congratulations to Popovich and Demps.

"Old man, if you want to drink, call me anytime during the offseason."

Tang Tian and Popovich, even if they weren't on the same team, were still close friends.

And not long after he sent the text message, the league followed up with the announcement of the Best Defensive Player award.

Tang Tian, with 31% of the vote, defeated Noah with 25% of the vote, and won the honor for the second consecutive year.

He also became the first non-center player to win the award in consecutive years since Dennis Rodman (1989-90 season and 1990-91 season).

And that wasn't all, the greater significance was that he won the Best Defensive Player award while winning the scoring title.

That was awesome.

In the long history of the NBA, only one person has won this honor in the same season.

That's right, that person is "The God of Basketball" Michael Jordan.

In the 87-88 season, Jordan won the regular season MVP + All-Star MVP + scoring title + steals champion + Best Defensive Player in one breath…

And now, Tang Tian has already won the All-Star MVP + scoring title + Best Defensive Player.

His single-season honors were second only to Jordan.

ps: Today I will return from my mother-in-law's house to my own house. I will stay at home for four or five days. The update time may not be so stable, but everyone can rest assured that the update will be guaranteed! I hope everyone will continue to support me!