Others have sharp tongues, but Jordan's isn't just sharp, it's poisonous.

He could still vaguely remember the Elite Eight game against North Carolina back then.

In the first half with Jordan on the court, North Carolina played terribly. In the second half, after Jordan left, North Carolina became revitalized and almost turned the game around.

Whether you believe in metaphysics or not, it's just there.

Diaw saw Tang Tian's expression and seemed to have thought of something too.

Jordan was a god when he played, and he's still a god after retirement, just a jinx.

"It's okay, we're resistant to poison. You've even turned Barkley into a Tang-booster."

Diaw said with a smile.

Tang Tian shook his head and smiled.

Metaphysics wasn't something that people could control.

The day before the Western Conference Finals started, the Warriors arrived in New Orleans.

Like the Thunder and Rockets before them, they would start their series against the Pelicans on the road.

However, unlike the Thunder and Rockets before them, the Warriors were clearly more confident, and their daily training after arriving was open to the public.

With the highly anticipated series, reporters flocked to the sidelines.

However, before the training was over, Curry and Thompson returned to the locker room first.

By the time the training ended, Durant and Green were still doing extra drills, and coach Kerr became the target of the reporters' siege.

Cameras and microphones were everywhere.

"What do you think of TNT's latest program? Michael thinks the Pelicans are more likely to win the series."

The reporter's question was right on point, and the first question was quite novel.

Kerr was Jordan's teammate back then, and now his former teammate wasn't optimistic about his team.

"That's a good thing."

Kerr said with a smile in his eyes.

The sentence was simple, but it conveyed multiple meanings.

"How is Durant's current state? We know that since last season, his performance against Tang hasn't been very good."

The reporter's next question was more gentle, but the content was sharp.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Durant had suffered from "Tang Tian phobia" before.

"He's great. There's a problem with what you said. Kevin's last performance against the Pelicans was great, and he helped us win."

Kerr said with a smile. Neither team played their main players in their last game at the end of the season, so the outcome of that game wasn't meaningful for reference.

He was referring to the second game between the two teams in the regular season, which allowed Durant to regain his confidence against Tang Tian.

Over here, Kerr's interview was almost over, and over there, Durant and Green finished training. The reporters quickly shifted their positions and surrounded them again.

"Kevin, are you confident about tonight's game?"

"He is, more than ever."

Before Durant could speak, Green answered for him.

Durant nodded.

"Our goal is the championship, that's our only goal, no matter who the opponent is, we will achieve it."

Green continued.

Unlike the previous few teams, Green didn't mention the concept of revenge at all, he was overflowing with confidence.

Durant continued to nod.

He was very active on social media, but more quiet in front of the media.

However, he chose the most difficult path when he chose to go from the Thunder to the Warriors, and failure meant not winning the championship.

Green's words were direct, but he was right.

These pre-game interviews were quickly exposed by the media.

Green's big mouth remained the same, and it continued to make Pelicans fans feel unhappy.

Only a year had passed, and Green had forgotten the tragic experience of being swept last season.

Sure enough, time was the best healer, and also the best amnesia medicine.

But this also made fans look forward to the series that was about to begin even more.

The next night, the third season of the Pelicans-Warriors battle officially kicked off in New Orleans.

Commentators from all over the world were in place early to broadcast this century battle.

Although it was only the Western Conference Finals, the feud and strength of the two teams made it the most watched series this year.

After the opening ceremony, the starting players of the two teams took the stage one after another.

Both sides changed their lineups by agreement.

The Warriors removed Pachulia, the starting center in the first two rounds, from the starting lineup and put Iguodala in the starting lineup.

The Pelicans also removed Jokic from the starting lineup and replaced him with Brogdon.

Neither side had a proper center, both were small-ball lineups.

This was also the result of the Pelicans-Warriors battles for two consecutive years. Both sides knew each other inside and out, and tried to hide their weaknesses as much as possible.

Amidst the cheers of the fans, Davis tipped the ball back to the Pelicans' half, officially kicking off the third season of the Pelicans-Warriors battle.

Both teams removed their centers to avoid the embarrassment of being dragged out for military training.

However, Curry couldn't be taken off the court for the Warriors, and the Pelicans aimed at this from the start.

After Tang Tian held the ball, Brogdon set a pick-and-roll screen.

However, after being attacked like this for three years in a row, Kerr had also responded, going to double-team Tang Tian in advance and not giving the Pelicans an easy switch.

Because the refereeing scale was loose, the Warriors gave a lot of physical contact, and this strategy worked.

The Pelicans' first wave of tactics didn't work, Brogdon dribbled the ball, and finally chose to give the ball to Davis in the low post.

Davis posted up Green, then turned and shot a bank shot.

Green tried his best to interfere and gave a lot of pressure, but the ball still grazed the backboard and fell into the net.

Davis looked to be in very good shape tonight.

The Pelicans scored first, and the Warriors didn't fall behind.

Kenny Smith's analysis on TNT was correct. Tang Tian was primarily defending Durant, so the Warriors attacked Curry.

Curry used Iguodala's screen to fake a three-pointer and went straight to the basket, accelerating past Ariza's layup and drawing a foul on the latter, making both free throws.

Back on the other end, Tang Tian's attack on Curry wasn't successful. He signaled Brogdon to pull away, and then had Davis come up to the high post for a pick-and-roll.

After the screen, he moved out and Davis moved in. He stopped suddenly and passed the ball to Davis in the air, and Davis scored with a layup under pressure from Thompson.

The Pelicans continued to score on consecutive possessions after the start.

But back on the other end, Green held the ball at the top of the arc to organize, and passed it to Curry cutting in, Curry avoided Holiday in the air, and scored with a high-arcing reverse layup.

The defensive intensity of the two teams after the start wasn't lower than the previous Pelicans-Rockets series.

The various muscle collisions during off-ball screens, and the scenes of people falling on their backs from time to time, all showed the characteristics of the early 2000s playoffs.

But under such intensity of physical contact, the players' states were even more prominent.

Tang Tian and Durant hadn't played out yet, but Davis and Curry were in good shape tonight.

The difficulty of their first few goals wasn't low.

In the opening game of the Pelicans and Rockets, both sides didn't score for the first three minutes, which made the fans cheer.

Now, with the same defensive intensity, the two sides were still able to score, which showed the strength of the two teams even more.

Such a scene was worthy of the fans' waiting for a season!