Chapter 1 When the Whistle Sounds

The eyes of the fans in the arena were full of despair when the whistle sounded.

The eyes of the Lakers players were also full of disappointment.

James even trembled slightly.

Losing to Tang Tian was one thing, but he actually lost to Durant!

This was truly insane!

But he quickly adjusted his emotions. At his age, losing was just losing.

Moreover, he had done his best in this game with a 35+ triple-double, on top of his previous 40+ triple-double.

The Lakers fans in the arena began to applaud and cheer for their players, especially James, with many roars of "LeBron" mixed in.

But on the other side of the court, the Pelicans had already begun celebrating their victory.

They weren't favored, but they did it in the end!

Durant was even lifted up and thrown into the air by his teammates.

In this series, Durant averaged 36 points per game, making him the undisputed number one contributor to the team's advancement.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that they felt like they were playing alongside Tang Tian again in this series!

The Pelicans' celebration lasted for a while, and after shaking hands with the Lakers, they returned to the locker room to continue celebrating.

Tang Tian greeted Curry at this time and prepared to go to the locker room as well.

But as soon as he reached the players' tunnel, he was stopped by reporters.

The Pelicans players had all run to the locker room to celebrate, and they couldn't interview anyone, so they blocked Tang Tian instead.

Helpless, Tang Tian had to answer questions on behalf of the players.

"What do you think of Durant's performance?"

The reporter's first question was about Durant.

Just like the data showed, Durant was the most critical factor in the Pelicans winning the series.

"He overcame his destiny."

Tang Tian used simple words to summarize.

This answer satisfied the reporter.

Durant had said in a previous interview that "my friend said this is my destiny." Tang Tian's answer now was equivalent to confirming once again that the friend Durant mentioned was him.

"If you were to give Durant a score for his performance in the series, what would it be? Out of 10."

Reporters seemed to love asking scoring questions.

"11 points. One extra point won't make him arrogant."

Tang Tian's response was also very direct, immediately making the other reporters laugh.

"We know that the Spurs are currently leading the Clippers 3-2, and the next game will also be played in Los Angeles. Who do you hope the Pelicans will play in the next round?"

After asking some routine questions, the reporter then began to ask about the upcoming games.

"It doesn't matter who we play. I believe that after experiencing a series like this, no matter who the opponent is in the future, they will have the courage to defeat them."

Tang Tian's answer was the same as before, full of confidence in the Pelicans.

After answering the reporters' questions, Tang Tian went to the locker room, where Durant was already soaked by his teammates.

It wasn't that they didn't have champagne because it wasn't a home game, but judging by their actions, they were truly as excited as if they had won the championship.

With the Pelicans defeating the Lakers, and with the exception of the Spurs and Clippers, which hadn't finished because they started a day later, three of the four series had already ended.

In the East, the Bucks continued their strong performance, sweeping the Pistons 4-0 to advance to the next round.

Their opponent had also been determined: the Celtics easily defeated the Pacers 4-1, successfully meeting the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the West, after the Pelicans finished their series, they were waiting for the winner between the Spurs and the Clippers.

Stevens didn't arrange for the players to watch the live broadcast of the game; he just watched it with the coaching staff.

In the end, despite playing on the road, the Spurs didn't give the Clippers much of a chance, easily winning 103-88 and advancing to the Western Conference Finals 4-2.

The two games the Clippers had won before were all narrow victories, and they had been very lucky in addition to their strength.

However, it was already incredible that the Clippers were able to make it this far and take two victories from the Spurs.

It was only Doncic's second season, and this magical kid from Europe was already very magical.

After watching the game, Stevens and the coaching staff felt that they were right not to let the players watch the live broadcast.

The Spurs seemed even stronger than last year.

Now that the team didn't have Tang Tian, it would be really difficult to win against them.

Although they didn't want to say it out loud and dampen morale, they all knew that the Pelicans were likely to stop in the Western Conference Finals.

Two days later, the Eastern Conference Finals began.

With Antetokounmpo having a shot, he was almost invincible. Coupled with Irving and Hayward, and Lopez stretching the floor, the Bucks showed absolute dominance.

The Celtics were a bit lost.

Although Tang Tian hoped Walker could win, the gap in strength between the two teams was a bit too big.

In the end, the Bucks defeated the Celtics 113-93, taking the first victory of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Tang Tian sent Walker a text message to comfort him, but the latter didn't seem to have any frustration. As a core player, he had reached the Eastern Conference Finals, and he had already realized his self-worth.

After the Eastern Conference Finals game, the Western Conference Finals also kicked off.

This time, the Pelicans had to start on the road.

Tang Tian also traveled with the team to San Antonio for the first game.

He was also very clear that the Pelicans were not as strong as the Spurs. Not to mention the playoffs, the two teams' regular season record was 1-3.

From the perspective of an objective fan, Tang Tian felt that the Spurs had at least a 70% chance of winning.

Of course, the series was long, and anything could happen.

Just like the Pelicans weren't favored to eliminate the Lakers before, they did it in the end.

If they could do it once, they would naturally have the opportunity to do it twice.

But to do it, just like against the Lakers, the first game would be very critical.

That night, the AT&T Center was packed, and the enthusiasm of the Spurs fans was the highest it had been since the GDP era.

The reason for this was naturally Leonard.

Leonard ushered in the true peak of his career this season. Although his data was not as dazzling as Durant's and Antetokounmpo's, that was more because the Spurs also had stars like George and Aldridge.

The quality he showed on both ends of the court was very oppressive.

The game started quickly, and Durant faced the George + Leonard defensive treatment he deserved from the start.

This made him very uncomfortable, especially in the playoffs, where the defensive intensity was even stronger than in the regular season.

Moreover, Leonard's help defense was incredibly fast. Even if Durant passed the ball to Davis in time, Leonard's help defense still made Davis very uncomfortable.

101-81, 102-92.

These were the final scores of the first two games of the series.

With their high-pressure defense, the Spurs limited the Pelicans' score to under 100 points in both games.

Although Durant still averaged nearly 30 points in the two games, his shooting percentage plummeted from 50% to around 40%.

A very obvious reality was that without Tang Tian, this Pelicans team was clearly no match for this Spurs team.

Stopping in the Western Conference Finals might be the final result for the Pelicans this season.