“Thanks.”
Butler breathed a sigh of relief. He must have mustered up a lot of courage to come.
“Keep it up.”
Tang Tian said with a smile. He actually quite admired players like Butler who worked hard.
In the post-game press conference, Popovich attended with Tang Tian and Ginobili.
"I know he can make every three-pointer. Just look at his three-point percentage."
"I didn't pass him the ball much tonight, so you guys should go interview Boris later. He should be the happiest one."
Ginobili continued to crack his usual jokes, making Popovich and Tang Tian laugh.
But when the questions were directed at him, Tang Tian acted rather low-key.
"I just converted my teammates' passes into scores, and I was also very lucky tonight. Half of the points are thanks to my teammates."
Despite his nickname of Tang 'Not Low-Key' Tian, the Spurs rookie, his so-called lack of modesty was based on actions, not words.
Tang Tian was low-key in the interview, but fans on Twitter and Instagram exploded once again.
"This is definitely the craziest performance of the season, 8 three-pointers in the first half! If the score hadn't been widened so early in the second half, he very likely would have broken the record of 12 three-pointers in a single game!"
"This is really crazy. 'The Godfather' isn't a streaky shooter like Crawford or JR Smith, but he really seized every opportunity and reasonably made so many three-pointers. It's really unbelievable!"
"I'm a Chinese American, and I want to give Tang a new nickname: Tang Ritian. I know you may not understand, but I can explain it. Ritian in our Chinese language means awesome to the extreme."
"Tang Ritian? I like this nickname. Let's spread it!"
"Yes! This name is so creative!"
"I'm already preparing to write this new nickname on the k-t board for the next game!"
"'Tang Ritian's' performance was crazy, but fortunately Rose wasn't injured. The Bulls reporter has confirmed after the game that Rose is fine."
"Thank goodness, this season has been too difficult for Rose. He just won the MVP."
"I think Coach Thibodeau is using him a bit too much."
"Hey, man, you're wrong. Tom Thibodeau is overusing every one of his starters!"
……
After finishing the game with the Bulls, the Spurs' consecutive road trip finally came to an end.
The record of 1 win and 3 losses wasn't great, but considering Tang Tian's suspension and the back-to-back games, it was completely acceptable.
It was now mid-April, and the Spurs only had 8 games left in total.
They were only 2 games ahead of the Thunder, who had recently had a 5-game winning streak.
To maintain their position as the top seed in the West, they had to play well in every one of their remaining games.
The Spurs had a day off, and then they would be at home to face the Warriors, which would be the third game between the two teams this season.
The Warriors' record hadn't improved much after trading Ellis, and they were now ranked third to last in the West.
For the Spurs, this was considered a relatively easy game after facing a series of strong teams.
Popovich only arranged outside defensive training in the afternoon of the day off.
After training, Tang Tian was caught by reporters at the court for an interview.
"You won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for January and February, but not for March. What happened?"
The questions the reporter asked were always tricky.
"Congratulations to Klay Thompson, he had a great month."
Tang Tian responded calmly, and this answer didn't give the reporter any room to find fault.
"You'll be playing against him tomorrow night, and you'll likely be matched up directly on the court. Will this (referring to not winning the Rookie of the Month award for March) make you more motivated?"
The reporter continued to ask.
"I'm full of energy every game night, so I won't be more motivated. My heart probably wouldn't be able to take it."
Tang Tian didn't forget to show off his humor at this time.
The reporter couldn't help but laugh, and the atmosphere of the interview also became much more relaxed.
"I've noticed on social media that fans have given you a new nickname."
The reporter continued.
"New nickname?"
Tang Tian asked in confusion.
He had been traveling back from the road trip and hadn't paid attention to this.
Speaking of which, he already had two nicknames, "The Godfather" and "Tang 'Not Low-Key' Tian, the Spurs rookie." The fans were still coming up with more? They really never got tired of it.
"Yes, Tang Ritian."
Americans weren't very accurate with pinyin pronunciation, but this reporter still tried hard to spell it out.
"What?"
Tang Tian was stunned for a moment. He thought he had misheard.
"Tang~ Ri~ Tian~" The reporter spelled it out again. This time Tang Tian heard it clearly.
Damn it!
Who came up with this nickname? It was simply a black mark!
His name was Tang Tian. Tang Ritian sounded quite domineering, but wasn't that just telling him to... himself?
"No, no, I don't like this. And don't ever mention this nickname in front of me again."
Tang Tian changed his previous smiling face, put on a cold face to warn the reporter, and then turned around and left.
This unhealthy trend must not grow. Anyone who mentions it again would be blacklisted.
After extra practice in the evening, Tang Tian logged on to Twitter and saw that it was actually a Chinese American who came up with the nickname.
This guy probably only knew half-baked Chinese and was showing off on Twitter. He didn't expect this group of Americans to like it so much.
Actually, this was normal. With the pronunciation of pinyin, Tang Ritian definitely sounded smoother and more imposing because of the turning sound in the middle.
The next night, the Spurs were at home against the Warriors.
As soon as Tang Tian entered the arena, wow, a lot of people were holding up Tang Ritian's k-t boards and signs. These guys really loved this nickname.
He immediately gave a wry smile, but didn't care too much. Ritian would be Ritian. What could he do?
After Ellis was traded, Thompson became the Warriors' starting shooting guard.
On the Spurs' side, Popovich also used the same starting lineup as the previous game. Diaw and Leonard continued to start, and Tang Tian continued to play shooting guard.
This lineup was afraid of strong inside players. If the opponent had a big center, the Spurs could use Blair or Splitter.
Popovich was very flexible in this regard, using different lineups for different opponents.
In this way, Tang Tian and Thompson really matched up directly on the court, just like the reporter said.
Thompson was also eager to try when he saw this matchup. He had just won the Rookie of the Month, and like in a game, he had received a halo buff, and all his attributes were in a state of improvement.
Now that the regular season was coming to an end, the Warriors couldn't make the playoffs.
He would have to go home early to fish at the end of the season, and this was his last chance to prove himself in front of Tang Tian.
ps: Little Eggplant has a formal name, but is still missing a nickname. Any suggestions?
Preferably something related to fire, but Huohuo isn't very nice, and Cancan is out because his great-grandfather had that character.