The opening two possessions became the epitome of the Pelicans' first quarter.

Jokic took three shots from beyond the arc, missing all of them, while Tang Tian and Davis were also double-teamed, making them inefficient.

With about seven minutes left in the first quarter, the score was 16-6, and the Spurs' lead had reached double digits.

Moreover, the Pelicans had already experienced a scoring drought of more than three minutes.

Inside the AT&T Center, the smiles on the faces of the fans could no longer be concealed.

They had already seen the glimmer of hope for their team to advance.

Williams looked up at the score on the LED screen and sighed helplessly.

Was the Pelicans' playoff journey going to end here?

In the Pelicans' offense, Tang Tian held the ball on the perimeter.

Jokic stood outside again, but Gasol completely ignored him, shrinking to the free-throw line, ready to double-team Tang Tian at any time.

Tang Tian received the ball, but this time he didn't break through.

Although the Spurs' defense wasn't as tough as the Grizzlies', it excelled in execution, and it had been proven that his hard drives were inefficient.

He dribbled the ball, actively moving closer to Jokic.

Jokic understood and set a screen.

They had completed this kind of cooperation during the regular season, with Jokic using his size to screen Tang Tian's defender.

However, Green was very good at navigating screens, and this time he successfully went around it.

Jokic's screen failed, but Tang Tian didn't stop.

Seeing that Green was going around the screen outside the three-point line, he accelerated one step to the high post, stopping abruptly to pull up for a jumper before Gasol could pounce out.

This time, he seized the only defensive loophole of the Spurs.

"Swish!"

The ball fell into the net, brushing against the net.

Tang Tian helped the Pelicans break their scoring drought.

There was a commotion on the sidelines.

In the second game, Tang Tian scored 24 points in the final quarter to seal the game, and this time the person who stepped up was still Tang Tian.

Knowing the truth, they were already cursing Buford internally. Tang Tian was originally a Spurs player!

Even though the Pelicans wouldn't necessarily be their opponent in this round without Tang Tian, any other All-Star probably wouldn't have Tang Tian's clutch ability.

The Spurs' offense didn't diminish, and Leonard's fadeaway at the free-throw line was an answerball to Tang Tian.

This goal drew thunderous cheers from the fans at the scene.

Holt said Leonard was the Spurs' next core, and Leonard's current performance lived up to that evaluation!

However, before their cheers had subsided, Tang Tian and Jokic played a pick-and-roll again on the three-point line in the frontcourt. Seeing that Green went inside the three-point line to go around the screen this time, he directly stopped abruptly and pulled up from beyond the three-point line.

No matter how good Green was at navigating screens, it still took time, and Tang Tian seized this.

The advantage of a pull-up jumper was its speed, and speed meant shooting space.

The ball flew over Green's defense, spinning towards the basket.

The hearts of the fans on the sidelines were on the line.

Although the Spurs were leading the series 3-2, it was undeniable that Tang Tian's performance was at a superstar level in every game.

As long as he shot, it gave people the feeling that it was going in.

"Swish!"

With a crisp sound, the feeling became reality, and Tang Tian's pull-up three-pointer went in again. He scored 5 points in a row!

A true superstar, a true clutch player!

Leonard wanted to return a three-pointer in the frontcourt, but he didn't make it.

His defense was already very close to Tang Tian's during his time with the Spurs, but no matter how Holt touted him, his offense was still one or two levels below Tang Tian's.

Jokic protected the defensive rebound, and the Pelicans directly launched a fast break from the backcourt. Tang Tian took the lead, getting the ball and shaking off Green for a fast-break layup.

Tang Tian launched a personal offensive surge, helping the Pelicans narrow the gap little by little and pulling the team back from the brink.

Throughout the first half, with Jokic feeling cold and others in poor condition, he put on a one-man show, scoring 27 points alone.

At the end of the half, the Pelicans were only 50-55, trailing the Spurs by 5 points.

Just like in the second game, this was really a case of one person forcibly extending the team's life.

"I'll guard Tang."

During the halftime break, Leonard volunteered to Popovich.

Because he shouldered more offensive responsibilities for the team, although he was elected as the season's best defensive player, Leonard had not been matched up against Tang Tian.

Popovich nodded.

But he didn't just nod, he also deployed a new defensive strategy.

Leonard's speed was a disadvantage compared to Tang Tian's, and he needed to use tactics to assist him.

Back from the halftime break, Jokic's shot from beyond the three-point line still didn't go in. It seemed that even if he had the Mamba mentality tonight, he couldn't throw the ball in.

The other Pelicans players were still not in good condition. It was never easy for a young team to play an away game in San Antonio.

Moreover, Tang Tian's performance was greatly limited.

Leonard's defense focused on limiting Tang Tian from receiving the ball, and his long arms occasionally applied great defensive pressure with his smothering defense.

More importantly, Popovich's tactical assistance used weak-side help defense to limit Tang Tian's breakthrough space.

In this quarter, Tang Tian "only" scored 9 points under the Spurs' solid defense.

The Pelicans only scored 13 points in this quarter.

The only fortunate thing was that the Spurs' shooting touch wasn't very good in the second half either, and they only scored 20 points in this quarter.

Even so, after three quarters, the Pelicans were already 12 points behind the Spurs.

This scene was very similar to the second game.

The difference was that with the other Pelicans players not in good condition, Popovich had already found a way to limit Tang Tian.

The Pelicans were really in a dire situation this time.

Moreover, as the third quarter was about to end, there was a brief pause in the game.

This pause was neither a regular timeout nor a technical timeout, but an uncontrollable pause.

Because an uninvited guest came to the arena: a tailless bat.

There are a total of 47 species of bats in the United States, 32 of which are located in Texas, and the largest bat colony in the world is located just outside of San Antonio.

The Camden Street area near the San Antonio River is the main habitat of the tailless bat.

Before Tang Tian was selected by the Spurs, Ginobili had once caught a bat by hand in the arena, becoming a topic of conversation among fans.

That bat, like this one, was a tailless bat.

Fans shouted for Ginobili to come on the court to catch the bat, but this time Ginobili was on the bench, he didn't come on, and the work of catching the bat was done by the staff.

The bat was eventually successfully captured, but the fans' mood became more and more happy.

Because bats often appeared in the arena, some fans had statistically analyzed the probability of the Spurs winning the game after the bats appeared.

As of now, this probability is 100%, 4 wins and 0 losses!

It was precisely because of this that many fans regarded the bat as the Spurs' second mascot.

Now that the mascot has appeared, this is a good omen, they will win tonight!