Chapter 135 Mini Five-by-Five

After finishing the game with the Warriors and resting for two days, the Spurs returned to their home court to welcome the Heat.

The Heat currently had a record of 10 wins and 2 losses, not much worse than the Spurs.

The two teams with the best records in the East and West, and also last season's Finals opponents, such a showdown attracted worldwide attention.

This time, the Heat had the last laugh.

The team's new addition, Ray Allen, became the biggest factor in the game.

He hit two consecutive three-pointers in the final moments, helping the Heat win 103-97.

The Spurs' 12-game winning streak was ended, but Tang Tian's performance was still very eye-catching, as he had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, and 5 blocks.

A mini five-by-five in three consecutive games!

The win or loss didn't seem so important at this point.

A mini five-by-five is very rare throughout NBA history, so rare you can count them on your fingers!

And there were only two players who had completed it more than twice!

One was "AK47" Andrei Kirilenko, who had completed it three times in his career.

The other was "The Dream" Hakeem Olajuwon, who had completed it six times.

But now, Tang Tian wasn't doing it over the course of a career, but having a mini five-by-five in three consecutive games!

At the Spurs' post-match press conference, Gregg Popovich brought Tang Tian with him.

As soon as the press conference started, a reporter mentioned this.

"Really?"

That was Tang Tian's genuine first reaction.

He was now focused on how to maximize his No-Fly Zone ability, and he hadn't really paid attention to the stats.

"That's really good."

He said with a smile after getting an affirmative response from the reporter.

"Will you continue this record in the next game against the Lakers?" the reporter asked.

"Continue? No, no, I don't care about the stats, I only care about the team winning or losing. We just lost the game, so that's not what I'm thinking about."

Tang Tian said very modestly.

But what he said was also true. This No-Fly Zone was newly exchanged, and his opponents probably didn't expect his blocking ability to suddenly become so strong.

The reason why there were so few mini five-by-five stats in history wasn't that those people's defensive abilities weren't as good as Tang Tian, but that their defense was already very good.

It's not difficult to get more than 5 steals, but blocks… if the opponent knows you're good at blocking, who would be silly enough to keep challenging you?

So, in the following games, it would be difficult for him to get this kind of stat again.

This could be seen from the game against the Heat, where he barely reached 5 in everything.

Gregg Popovich looked at Tang Tian at this time; this guy was very low-key tonight.

"Coach, are you surprised by Tang's performance? Getting these kinds of stats in three consecutive games?" The reporter then turned the question to Gregg Popovich.

"No, he's actually a defensive player," Gregg Popovich said.

"A defensive player?" the reporter asked.

"Yes, don't be blinded by his scoring performance in the previous few games. The Defensive Player of the Year is his most likely goal," Gregg Popovich said with a smile.

The reporters below the stage were in an uproar.

There were very few perimeter players who had won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in NBA history. There were only four in NBA history: "The Glove" Gary Payton, Michael Jordan, Alvin Robertson (the only guard in NBA history to have a quadruple-double), and Ron Artest.

Gregg Popovich's words were really bold!

And it was the first time he'd said something like this to the media!

It seemed Tang Tian wanted to be low-key, but Gregg Popovich wouldn't let him!

But Gregg Popovich's words were actually a double entendre. On the one hand, he was affirming Tang Tian's defense, and on the other hand, although defense was deeply loved by coaches, it wasn't valuable.

When the label of defense covered up Tang Tian's crazy scoring performance in the first ten games, his value in the free market would become relatively low.

Gregg Popovich's words in the post-match interview also became the title of ESPN's post-match report.

"Defensive Player of the Year, why not?"

Such a title was also full of噱头 (xuètou, a theatrical term meaning a gimmick or point to attract audience), and the topic it generated was obviously much greater than scoring 20+ consecutively and having a mini five-by-five in three consecutive games.

The day after the game against the Heat, the Lakers flew to San Antonio.

The two sides would usher in their second match of the season in a day.

The Lakers' season could be described as an absolute "legendary" season.

The formation of the F4 was infinitely promising, but as a result, Steve Nash was injured and couldn't play, and they lost all their preseason games.

At first, fans said it was a matter of team chemistry and that preseason games were unimportant.

But then they followed up with a 1-4 start, and the game they lost to the Spurs became the last straw that broke Mike Brown's back.

Brown was fired by the management, and interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff served as interim head coach for 4 wins and 1 loss.

The team had just seemed to be getting back on track, and then the management found Mike D'Antoni, the former coach of Steve Nash and "run-and-gun master," who had just been fired by the Knicks not long ago.

D'Antoni brought the run-and-gun tactics to the Lakers, but the Lakers' starting lineup had four old arms and legs, and only Dwight Howard could keep up. The run-and-gun ended up being a mess.

The team currently had a record of 6 wins and 8 losses, hovering on the edge of the playoffs.

Injuries of all sizes were constant, the team chemistry was a big problem, and the defense was a complete mess…

The reporter's question at the press conference wasn't a whim. Facing such a Lakers team, Tang Tian really had the opportunity to continue his mini five-by-five performance.

The Lakers' poor situation had become the focus of media attention.

Their pre-game training attracted the attention of many media outlets, including ESPN and TNT.

Kobe Bryant was icing his ankle on the sidelines for half an hour before the end of training.

After the training, he took off the ice pack and got up to greet his teammates.

After training, the reporters quickly surrounded him.

"Is the team confident of winning against the Spurs tonight?" The first question the reporter asked was relatively normal.

"Of course, we haven't been playing well lately, and we need a win like this."

"You mentioned that the team hasn't been playing well lately, so how are you going to win this game?" But the second question was very aggressive.

"Fighting spirit. No matter who the opponent is, the word 'give up' doesn't exist in my dictionary or in this team's dictionary."

Kobe's eyes burned with fighting spirit when he said this.

"You will be matched up against Tang tonight. He has been playing very well on the defensive end lately, and Gregg Popovich has also publicly stated that he can compete for the Defensive Player of the Year award. What do you think of matching up against him?"

The reporter continued to ask.

"Tang, huh?"

After seeing the reporter nod, Kobe smiled, and the scene of them playing in the Drew League together unconsciously appeared in his mind.

"Yes, I know him. He has the strength to compete for the Defensive Player of the Year, but he can't guard me," Kobe said with arrogance in his eyes.