Only nine teams in NBA history have successfully come back from a 3-1 deficit, including this year's Rockets in the first round.

That's a frighteningly low success rate, not to mention their opponent is the experienced Spurs.

Although the series isn't over yet, the fans' judgment isn't wrong.

The Pelicans have one foot off the cliff, and it's only a matter of time before they're eliminated.

The only consolation is that even if the Pelicans are eliminated in the next game, they won't be the first to exit the conference semifinals.

In the other three series, the Bulls lead the Hawks 3-1, and the Cavaliers and Knicks are tied 2-2, so there's still a chance.

But the Warriors' series has already ended.

The Rockets didn't give the Warriors any trouble, and were swept 0-4.

Like the Clippers next door, this Rockets team has failed to reach the Western Conference Finals for years.

Of the three dark horse teams, the Pelicans and Hawks are both down 3-1, but the Warriors have shown their dominance, sweeping their way to the Western Conference Finals in two rounds.

Before the season started, fans and the media believed that James' return home would bring him a personal three-peat.

Even before the playoffs started, they thought the fully integrated Cavaliers were the favorites to win the championship.

But now it seems the Warriors are the more competitive team in the playoffs.

The fifth game between the Pelicans and Spurs will be in three days, and the Pelicans returned to New Orleans the day after Game 4.

Although the situation is unfavorable, the good news is that they have enough time to adjust, and the next game will be at home.

Just then, the league announced the second batch of season awards.

In the Most Improved Player voting, Jimmy Butler won with an absolute advantage of 50% of the vote, thanks to his average of 22.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game, beating out Draymond Green (17%) and Whiteside (16%).

In the Defensive Player of the Year voting, Kawhi Leonard won with 30% of the vote thanks to his average of 2.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, and his excellent defensive ability, beating out Draymond Green (26%) and DeAndre Jordan (20%).

Leonard finally won the first high-value award of his career thanks to his hard work.

After the awards were announced, Tang Tian sent a congratulatory text message to Leonard as soon as possible.

Leonard replied as soon as possible.

"Thank you for your guidance and help, I will remember it for the rest of my life."

Although Tang Tian has been away from the Spurs for two years, Leonard is very clear that his growth is inseparable from Tang Tian's help.

Although they are opponents now, he still respects Tang Tian.

If there is a Game 6 in the series, Leonard's award ceremony will be held in Game 6.

If not, the award ceremony will be held in the opening game of the next round against the Warriors.

But no matter when it is, it will be a big boost to the Spurs' morale.

Leonard was still as low-key as before after winning the award, not posting on social media or accepting interviews.

But the Spurs' management seemed a little restless.

Not long after the results came out, the team's official Twitter released a message.

"It's time for us to take back what we lost last season @Kawhi Leonard."

What was lost clearly refers to the team's dynasty and championship last season.

The Spurs are uncharacteristically high-profile this time.

But considering the doubts they suffered after failing to defend their title last year, and the instructions given by team owner Holt, this doesn't seem difficult to understand.

It's just a little embarrassing that although Leonard opened a social media account at the beginning of last season, he hasn't posted a single status to this day.

And he didn't respond to the Spurs' official @.

But it doesn't seem to matter, because the purpose of the Spurs' tweet is to tell everyone that they have their next core.

Such a high-profile approach naturally attracted the attention of the media and fans.

At this time, a reporter from FOX Sports approached Spurs owner Holt for an exclusive interview.

There were many questions mentioned in it, about Leonard being elected as the best defensive player, about the official Twitter that was just released, and even for the first time mentioning the sensitive topic of whether he regretted letting Tang Tian go.

Holt answered all of these questions one by one.

"Do you regret letting Tang go? He has now become a top-five superstar in the league."

"No, no regrets. After we made that decision, we never regretted it."

In the interview, Holt gave a clear response to this question for the first time.

"You say he's a superstar, that's now, but back then he was just a role player on the team. No one could have predicted that he would grow so fast, so it's wrong to look back at the decision at that time with the current situation."

"But at that time he had already become the Finals MVP."

The reporter reminded.

"Yes, he was."

Holt laughed when he said this.

"But you also know that it may be the least convincing FMVP. I don't mean to belittle Tang, but because we are an absolute team basketball, it is an undeniable fact."

"Even if he is a superstar now, you don't regret it?"

The reporter asked again.

Holt nodded.

"Like I said just now, no one would have predicted that he would grow so fast, and the reason why he can grow so fast has a lot to do with the Pelicans giving him a lot of shots. This is difficult to achieve with the Spurs. Popovich wouldn't allow that, and that's not our style.

Like everyone knows, we have a system. In this system, we are a team. Tim is good enough, but if you only look at his stats, you would think he is just an ordinary All-Star player."

"You mentioned Tim, there are rumors that he may retire this season? After he retires, will this system continue to exist?"

The reporter continued to ask.

"Of course, Popovich is here, so it is. And we have found a new successor, Kawhi. He is as good as Tang. He just won the Defensive Player of the Year. He did what Tang did, and he did it better.

You see that we now have the opportunity to compete for our third championship in four years, and we are very hopeful. To be honest, this has something to do with our original decision. We let Tang go, and then we had the space to sign Paul Gasol, and now we are leading the Pelicans 3-1."

Holt couldn't hide the confidence in his eyebrows.

From this passage, we can also see Holt's original intention in choosing to accept the interview at this time and make these long speeches.

Since Tang Tian played his first game for the Pelicans, the Spurs have been at the center of the storm and have been criticized by the outside world.

Now, Leonard has been elected as the best defensive player, and the Spurs are about to eliminate the Pelicans. It's finally his turn to vent his anger!