Chapter 0 No Timeout on the Court

The camera focused on Warriors head coach Steve Kerr standing courtside.

Kerr's expression wasn't good, but he didn't call a timeout.

He brought a new tactical system to the Warriors, liberating Curry and Thompson, but his biggest shortcoming was his reluctance to call timeouts.

He preferred to let the players resolve things themselves.

Curry didn't shoot another three-pointer; Thompson got open for a catch-and-shoot three.

"Clang!"

Still no good.

Thompson had lit up the previous game to kill it, but his touch was off in this one.

That kind of godly performance seemed to have a cooldown period.

Jokic grabbed the defensive rebound.

When Tang Tian got the ball in the frontcourt, Barnes double-teamed him immediately.

He passed the ball to Jokic at the first opportunity, and Jokic had an open three-point opportunity.

But he didn't shoot; instead, he dribbled straight to the basket, aiming for a three-step dunk.

Green let Davis go to help, making a clear move to foul the man, not the ball.

Jokic couldn't brace himself, and before he could take the third step, Green heavily fouled him to the ground.

Ariza, seeing this, sprinted over and shoved Green hard.

Green and Ariza were quickly entangled.

Tang Tian and Holiday rushed over in the next second.

Barnes and Thompson also quickly joined the fray.

A large-scale conflict seemed about to erupt, but fortunately, the referees intervened in time and separated the two sides.

Jokic had also gotten up, unharmed.

The game entered a technical timeout.

The referees were at the scorer's table, watching the replay.

Although Jokic wasn't injured, his hand was bruised a bright red.

"You should be tougher; he pushed you. If you're not injured, go right at him."

Davis said to Jokic, just like Tang Tian had taught him.

"Next year, next year when my body is adjusted, I will definitely dominate him in the paint!"

A fierce look flashed in Jokic's eyes.

He really wasn't as soft as he looked, and he was very calm, knowing that he didn't have the advantage in physicality right now.

Tang Tian nodded when he heard this from the side.

Jokic was a gentleman who takes revenge ten years later; this choice wasn't wrong.

After watching the replay, the referees gave Green a technical foul.

Jokic made the technical free throw, continuing to help the Pelicans extend the lead.

The Pelicans still had possession.

Tang Tian passed the ball to Jokic in the double team, and Jokic shot a three-pointer directly.

"Swish!"

Clean and smooth.

Jokic used his performance on the court to respond to Green's malicious foul.

This three-pointer was basically the game-winner.

In the end, the Pelicans played steadily and defeated the Warriors 114-108 on the road, changing the series score to 2-3.

Tang Tian had a team-high 31 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks; Jokic had a near triple-double performance with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists; and Holiday had 19 points.

When the game ended, Green glared at Jokic resentfully, making it clear that he had formed a grudge against him.

Green, who had said that the "series would end in five games," was slapped in the face again this game.

But the most miserable person wasn't him; after the game, Barkley not only wanted to crawl under the table, but he wanted to drill a hole and crawl right through it.

He finally lost to O'Neal!

Thirteen years ago, he had relied on trickery to avoid kissing Smith's butt, but thirteen years later, the debt had to be repaid!

"It's killing me, I'm really looking forward to the moment when Barkley kisses Smith's butt, that will definitely be a historic moment!"

"Is this the end for Barkley every time he stands against Tang? xswl!"

"At least Barkley keeps his word, but look at Green, his words are like farts, how many times has he been slapped in the face!"

"And he had that malicious foul on Jokic in the game, really losing the game and losing face!"

"The league should suspend him; if Jokic had been injured on that play, the Pelicans wouldn't have had to play the rest of the series; that was clearly a foul on the man, not the ball!"

"Wait, hasn't he already been called Green 'De-Lammond' yet? ╮(╯▽╰)╭"

…

Beating the Warriors on the road and finding their weaknesses, the Pelicans now had much more confidence in a comeback.

It was also at this time that the league announced the final season awards.

All-Defensive Team and All-NBA Team.

The All-Defensive Team was announced first.

All-Defensive Second Team: Bogut, Davis, Danny Green, Jimmy Butler, John Wall;

Davis averaged 12.1 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, and 1.8 steals this season, with a strong presence on the defensive end.

This All-Defensive Second Team selection was well-deserved.

All-Defensive First Team: DeAndre Jordan, Draymond Green, Leonard, Tang Tian, Paul.

Tang Tian was selected to the All-Defensive First Team for the third consecutive season.

Although his various defensive statistics had declined due to his further role transformation.

But like Kobe in his later years, the defense Tang Tian showed in his limited time was still among the league's best.

It's worth mentioning that Tony Allen and Howard, who performed well this season, were unfortunately not selected due to intense competition.

Next was the announcement of the All-NBA Team, also an honor second only to the MVP.

All-NBA Third Team: Westbrook, Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol, Griffin, Howard;

All-NBA Second Team: Paul, Kobe, Thompson, Davis, Aldridge;

In addition to his improvement on the defensive end, Davis's average of 19.2 points per game this season was also a significant increase compared to last year.

With an All-Defensive Second Team and an All-NBA Second Team, he finally had two decent honors to his name.

All-NBA First Team: Curry, Tang Tian, Harden, James, Anthony.

After being selected to the Second Team for the first time last year, Tang Tian went one step further this year, directly being selected to the All-NBA First Team!

Counting the All-Defensive Team announced earlier, he had achieved double First Team honors!

Although he missed out on the MVP, he became the only player this season to earn double First Team honors!

A two-way superstar, such an honor was no less than the MVP!

The latest episode of TNT's show reached a new peak in ratings.

At the beginning of the TNT show, the Big Three were just discussing the newly released All-NBA Team.

O'Neal praised Tang Tian to the heavens, and Barkley and Smith had nothing to say, after all, Tang Tian was a unique existence, and no amount of praise was too much.

As they talked, they naturally got to the previous bet.

Amid the expectations of all the TV viewers, Smith stood up from his seat and publicly took off his suit pants.

But there weren't any bare buttocks; Smith was wearing boxer briefs.

Perhaps to awaken some of Barkley's memories, the color of the underwear was pink, personally chosen by O'Neal!

At O'Neal's urging, Barkley lowered his head and kissed Smith's upturned butt directly.

The show's effect exploded instantly.

Smith shuddered all over from the kiss, as if he had opened the door to a new world.

And Barkley had a disgusted expression after the kiss, obviously, Smith's butt wasn't that appealing to him.