Chapter 1 A Season for the History Books

"This is a season for the history books."

TNT and ESPN both used similar headlines to describe the past regular season.

As they said, with six super teams and two players averaging a triple-double, this was a season that would be etched in history.

And of course, there were the highly anticipated playoffs.

With the regular season rankings finalized, the matchups for the Eastern and Western Conference playoffs were also set.

In the East:

Cavaliers vs. Heat.

This was the most talked-about matchup in the first round of the Eastern Conference.

The old friendship of Wade and James, James and Whiteside both former Heat players...

For the Heat, who stumbled into the playoffs with a final winning streak, they had to face the strongest team in the East.

Knicks vs. Pacers.

A duel between Anthony and George, two of the league's top small forwards.

With the departure of David West and Hibbert, the Pacers were no longer the force they once were, and George's future with the Pacers looked bleak.

If they couldn't make a breakthrough this year, George might leave Indiana, where he was developed, after his contract expired.

Raptors vs. Hornets.

This was the second consecutive season the two teams had met in the playoffs, and the Raptors' trash brothers needed to prove themselves, as did Walker.

Especially after having a peak season, his playoff performance would directly determine his next contract.

And whether the Hornets could make it to the second round might also determine Walker's ultimate fate.

Hawks vs. Bucks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo put on a Most Improved Player-level performance.

The boy who once cast envious glances at Tang Tian from the sidelines was now growing rapidly, but he still needed to prove more.

In the West:

Rockets vs. Mavericks.

The Cavaliers and Heat in the East were the most talked-about first-round matchup, while the Rockets and Mavericks were the most watched.

With five super teams in the West, it meant that two of them would inevitably meet in the first round, and ultimately the Rockets and Mavericks, two of the favorites to win the championship, would meet ahead of schedule.

One was led by a superstar, and the other was an All-Star team, and either could win.

Spurs vs. Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers' double guns continued to have an efficient season, but they were undoubtedly victims of the super teams, and facing the Spurs in the first round looked ominous.

Warriors vs. Clippers.

Griffin suffered an injury this season, and his performance was sluggish after his return. The Clippers' chances of breaking through against the Warriors were also slim.

Pelicans vs. Thunder.

The scenes of the two teams' regular season games were still vivid, and if the fans hadn't had enough, they would now be presented with an entire series.

With two days to go before the playoffs, the Pelicans were ranked first in the league and had home-court advantage against all teams.

They were spared the travel and directly rested for two days to prepare for the upcoming playoffs.

"Thunder, Tang, it seems like your true or false topic will continue."

Bojan joked with Tang Tian during the first training session after the end of the regular season.

"He doesn't care about that anymore."

Dio said from the side before Tang Tian could open his mouth.

Tang Tian glanced at Dio and pointed at him with a smile.

As expected, the old guy knew him best.

The Pelicans were determined to defend their title this season, and it didn't really matter who their first-round opponent was.

Saying it was bragging, but not saying it, the first round was for them to find their form.

In fact, after finishing this season, he was thinking about a problem: would his consistently high usage rate hurt the team?

The data was good, and he would have an advantage in the MVP voting.

But Jokic's visible regression and Davis's stagnation this season, in addition to the refereeing standards, were also related to his high usage rate.

He was indeed the strongest on the team, and his possession was the most efficient way to play, but basketball was, after all, a five-person sport, and the first round was an opportunity to adjust.

Before the playoffs officially started, the league also announced the first two awards of the season at this time.

One was the Best Coach.

The results showed that Kerr received 31% of the votes, defeating Stevens and Lue, and successfully won the Coach of the Year award.

This was also the first time he had won it in his coaching career.

From leading the team to a championship in his debut to leading the team to 73 wins, Kerr's performance in the past two years had been getting better and better, but he just couldn't get the Coach of the Year award.

This season he finally got his wish.

However, in addition to his own performance, he also had to thank Stevens for being able to win this season.

After all, the latter had already won last season, and would basically be automatically filtered out this season.

Otherwise, with the Pelicans' 70-win record, Stevens would have been the one to be ultimately elected.

But no matter what, the Warriors spent three seasons to finally get the honor that the Pelicans got in one season.

The Best Coach went to the Bay Area, and the Most Improved Player award went to Milwaukee.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, with his outstanding performance, won the award without any suspense with more than 50% of the votes.

However, this was obviously just the beginning for him. This bigger version of James was aiming to challenge history and challenge Tang Tian's position as the league's number one.

Kerr and Antetokounmpo both chose to present the awards at the playoff opener.

They obviously hoped to continue the "award ceremony law" that Tang Tian had created in the Spurs to create a good start for the playoffs.

Two days later, the playoffs officially began.

The Knicks-Pacers, Raptors-Hornets in the East, and the Pelicans-Thunder, Rockets-Mavericks in the West were the first four to start.

The Raptors and Hornets game started the earliest, and the Pelicans and Thunder game started last.

The happiest at this time were the fans, with four playoff games a day, and games every day.

The Pelicans finished training early, and Tang Tian and Davis watched the first game between the Raptors and Hornets together in the locker room.

The Raptors had Lowry and DeRozan, as well as Ibaka and Valanciunas, but the Hornets only had Walker and a Batum who was clearly overpaid.

On paper, the Hornets had no chance of winning.

However, after the game started, the scene was different from what the fans had imagined.

In the first half, the Raptors led the Hornets by a large margin of 50 to 35. Lowry and DeRozan combined for 25 points, and everything was as expected by the outside world.

But in the second half, the situation suddenly changed. Walker of the Hornets suddenly went berserk, and his breakthroughs, shots, and defensive counterattacks completely lost the Raptors.

In the Hornets' counterattack wave, Lowry and DeRozan both disappeared.

Walker scored 20 points in this quarter, and the Hornets also erased the point difference in one quarter.

In the final quarter, Walker continued to perform bravely, and ultimately led the Hornets to defeat the Raptors 93 to 83, successfully completing the upset.

The trash brothers performed as always. They combined for 25 points in the first half, and only scored 10 points in total in the second half.

Walker exploded for 43 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, unstoppable.

"Kemba played really like Iverson in this game, it would be great if we could play with him."

Davis made a strange sigh.