Brogdon's selection caused a lot of controversy.

Those who supported him felt that his stats with the Pelicans were more valuable, and his competition was weaker, so there was nothing wrong with the selection.

Those who opposed him kept bringing up stats, after all, the NBA had never seen a Rookie of the Year with such a low average score.

Both sides held their own opinions and argued endlessly.

Against this backdrop, the pivotal game between the Pelicans and Warriors was about to begin at the New Orleans Arena.

The Pelicans held an open practice before the game.

Tang Tian was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines after the practice.

In addition to questions about the game, the reporters also asked about Brogdon, who had been the subject of much discussion recently.

"What do you think of your teammate Brogdon being named Rookie of the Year? Some people say the league chose Brogdon because of your relationship with Tatum."

"Do I have that much influence? I didn't know that."

Tang Tian said with a smile after hearing the reporter's question.

"Brogdon isn't even the first offensive option off the bench. If it were any other rookie, I don't think anyone could do as well as he has. And you can see that he's now starting on the stage of the Western Conference Finals. He's the best rookie."

Tang Tian's words made his attitude clear, and he strongly supported Brogdon.

He had suggested that Demps choose Brogdon because he valued the latter's immediate combat effectiveness, and now Brogdon's performance had met his expectations.

That night, the pivotal game between the Pelicans and Warriors officially kicked off at the New Orleans Arena.

The arena was packed inside and out, and fans naturally wouldn't miss such an important game.

Before the game, the Pelicans players were making their final preparations in the locker room.

"Thanks, Tang, for what you said about me in front of the reporters."

Brogdon thanked Tang Tian.

"I just spoke the truth."

Tang Tian said calmly.

Brogdon nodded, he could feel Tang Tian's full trust in his words.

That was more important than anything else.

"Kevin, we need to put aside the previous unpleasantness, we both have reasons why we can't afford to lose this year."

In the Warriors' locker room, Green sat next to Durant and said softly.

The two hadn't spoken to each other since the last game.

Durant glanced at Green, and nodded after a moment of silence.

He was indeed a little unhappy with Green, but what Green said was also very important.

He left the Thunder with the name of traitor and came to the Warriors, and he had more reasons than anyone else on the Warriors to not lose.

Green saw Durant's reaction and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

With a unified goal, the two men's conflict was temporarily resolved.

The game was about to begin, and the players on both sides entered the court to warm up one after another.

During the warm-up, the camera focused on Tang Tian, who was interacting with people on the sidelines.

It was clearly Olsen and his two sons.

They were here again for this crucial game!

Seeing this scene, there were cheers from the crowd.

They clearly remembered the effect of Tang Tian's sons' arrival, which would make them see a high-spirited Tang Tian.

After the warm-up, the Rookie of the Year award ceremony was held on the court.

Brogdon accepted the Rookie of the Year trophy from Tatum, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

The Warriors had a great harvest this season, and so did the Pelicans.

Moreover, it was quite rare for the defending champion to produce the Rookie of the Year.

Brogdon then delivered his acceptance speech.

He thanked many people, from his parents to his college coach, to the Pelicans' management and teammates.

"When I was selected by the Pelicans, people around me said I was finished, that I was going to a championship-contending team and would spend the whole year on the bench, but the opposite is true, this place has the best team culture, the best team leader, the best players, the best fans, I love this team, and I want to play here forever."

At the end of his speech, Brogdon said some heartfelt words, which resonated with the fans in the audience, and the cheers lasted for a long time.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of the two teams took the court one after another.

Both teams still used their previous small-ball starting lineups.

After the game started, Tang Tian quickly got into the zone, and the Pelicans swept away their sluggishness from the previous three games, scoring continuously on offense.

It seemed that after Tang Tian led the team to reverse the situation in the last game, Jordan's metaphysics had been broken.

However, the Warriors were also in particularly good form tonight.

Green and Durant, who had a conflict in the last game, even played a wonderful cooperation, with Durant's cut and Green's pass resulting in a one-handed tomahawk dunk.

High-intensity confrontation, wonderful cooperation, and difficult goals, both teams showed their best form in the most critical Game 5.

The fans on the sidelines were having a great time, and this was definitely the most exciting game they had seen in this year's playoffs.

At the end of the first quarter, the two teams were tied at 30, and the two sides were evenly matched.

Entering the second quarter, both teams had one main player with four substitutes.

On the Warriors' side, Green led the team, plus Pachulia, Iguodala, McCaw and Livingston.

On the Pelicans' side, Brogdon led the team, plus Lou Williams, Bojan, David West and Jokic.

The Warriors attacked first, Green organized at the top of the arc, and Livingston cut to the basket after a screen from Pachulia and caught the ball for a layup.

This was the Warriors' signature infinite cutting tactic, Pachulia's screen was in place, and Livingston also cut beautifully.

However, just as Livingston was about to shoot, Jokic flew up and sent a chase-down block.

The cheers from the crowd were deafening.

Tang Tian on the bench was also stunned.

Jokic was never a top defensive player, and blocking was his weakest point.

Moreover, Livingston was very decisive from catching the ball to shooting.

The fact that Jokic was able to block this shot showed that he was in good form tonight.

After the block, Jokic also grabbed the defensive rebound, turned around and threw a long pass from the backcourt across half court.

Brogdon had already flown out, and after catching the ball, he was unimpeded, fast-breaking to the front court for a layup.

Turning around, McCaw's catch-and-shoot three-pointer missed, and Jokic boxed out Pachulia to grab another defensive rebound.

However, this time the Warriors retreated in time, not giving the Pelicans a chance to launch a fast break directly.

In the positional battle, Brogdon organized, and he and David West ran a pick-and-roll.

Just as the Warriors shifted their attention to their side, Brogdon suddenly made a straight pass to the basket.

The pass was sudden, but the ball was steadily delivered to Jokic's hands under the basket.

Brogdon's most impressive skill was his three-pointer, but his organizational ability was actually quite outstanding.

After catching the ball, Jokic turned around at the free throw line and shook off Pachulia, scoring with a light hook shot off the backboard.

After scoring, Jokic reached out and pointed to Brogdon, a gesture to indicate that the latter had passed well.

The cheers from the crowd erupted again.

Jokic assisted Brogdon, and Brogdon immediately returned the favor to Jokic.

The two were getting along very well, this was the Bro-Jokic duo!