之前打火箭和爵士，所有人的注意力都在四双的身上。
But before this road trip was over, fans suddenly realized that this was Tang Tian's fifth consecutive game with a triple-double!
Tang Tian had done this last season, but the situation was different then.
At that time, Tang Tian did his best, with the help of a bunch of center teammates, but now he was obviously doing it with ease.
Moreover, as the number of triple-doubles increased, Tang Tian's average data was infinitely close to a triple-double.
Averages of 30.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game!
If he continues to perform like this, he may achieve the feat of averaging a triple-double before April!
This was also the goal he set for himself after communicating with Jordan at the beginning of the season!
Tang Tian is moving towards the goal of averaging a triple-double, but he is not the only one in the league now.
Thunder player Westbrook is averaging 29.6 points, 11.1 rebounds and 10.1 assists so far.
Although his shooting percentage has declined due to the increase in penalty calls, and his average points and assists are also lower than at the beginning of the season, he still maintains a triple-double average.
If this trend continues, the NBA league will not only have players averaging a triple-double again, but two at a time!
This will be an unprecedented event.
Fans are discussing whether Tang Tian can continue his triple-double performance, and also discussing the triple-double averages of him and Westbrook.
As the season enters the second half, the season's honors will become more eye-catching.
Against this background, the Pelicans continued their road trip, and their next game was against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This is also the second and last regular season game between the two sides this season.
The last game was traced back to the season opener.
At that time, the Pelicans, led by Tang Tian, defeated the Cavaliers, directly wasting the Cavaliers' $98 million signings in the summer.
But now, more than four months later, the situation of the two teams has changed.
The Pelicans' bench strength has been strengthened by trading for Williams, and the Cavaliers have changed even more.
They also traded for Korver at the trade deadline, and the latter quickly integrated into the Cavaliers' rotation, becoming the second-highest scorer on the bench.
Of course, more importantly, Whiteside lost weight at the request of the coaching staff, and he is now a modern center with both speed and confrontation.
After successfully losing weight, he can hand over data of 13.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game, with a shooting percentage as high as 59%!
And he has had more than 5 blocks in each of the past 3 games, and his condition is hot.
This is where the Cavaliers' strength has increased the most.
In other words, this encounter between the two teams will definitely not be as easy as the first time, and it will not be so simple for the Pelicans to win.
Not to mention the Cavaliers are playing at home.
Cleveland, the day before the game, fans had already started to build momentum on social media.
The disastrous defeat in the opening game, as well as the subsequent defeat to the Warriors, made the outside world feel that this season is a battle between the Pelicans and the Warriors, and whoever wins in the West will win the championship.
As for the Cavaliers, in their opinion, they have become the fish on the chopping board of the Western Conference winner, and the finals are just a formality.
Now that the Cavaliers have improved their strength, they will naturally want the team to prove themselves in the most positive way.
Whether it is James, the former No. 1 player in the league and the "Little Emperor" who has only been in power for a year, Whiteside, who has the most topics, Irving, Tang Tian's brother, or Love, who has fallen from an All-Star to an ordinary player due to the change in penalty standards, all need to prove themselves with such a game.
"This is the tie-breaker of last year's finals, and it may also be a preview of this year's finals."
Just like Barkley said on TNT, the game between the Pelicans and the Cavaliers is the most watched game at the end of the season.
Anticipation is high, and it's about to break out.
That afternoon, the Cavaliers held a public training session.
The media reporters who arrived were densely packed.
There are fewer topics at the end of the season than at the beginning and middle of the season. At this time, the media will definitely not miss such a topical game.
As soon as the training ended, the Big Four of James, Irving, Whiteside and Love, as well as team coach Lu, were surrounded by reporters.
Among the crowd, there were the most reporters interviewing Whiteside, even more than James.
The feud between James and Tang Tian is still going on, but that is not new anymore, and the entanglement between Whiteside and the Pelicans has become the freshest topic.
Moreover, Whiteside himself has always been a topic-making machine, and the reporters still remember his words in the opening game.
I think the team will definitely be able to successfully take revenge tonight, and he is completely different from the beginning of the season, and they will win a big victory at home...
It's not surprising at all to hear these words from him.
His resentment towards the Pelicans has become deeper because of the disastrous defeat in the opening game, and he urgently needs to prove himself in tonight's game.
However, a question from a reporter from Fox Sports gave this pre-match interview a new topic.
Moreover, the burst point of the topic is greater than the sum of all other interview content.
"What do you think of Tang's performance? He has had triple-doubles in five consecutive games. What if he reaches six games tonight?"
The reporter asked a very natural question. Tang is now creating a season triple-double consecutive record, and is likely to tie the historical record of 9 consecutive games.
But Whiteside didn't seem so happy after hearing this.
"You should pay attention to me, I have had 5 blocks in 3 consecutive games."
When he was with the Pelicans, he cared about the outside world's opinions. After being with the Cavaliers and James for a long time, he cared more about these things.
The reporter smiled.
More than 5 blocks in 3 consecutive games is indeed very good, but it is a bit worse than Tang Tian's consecutive quadruple-doubles and five triple-doubles.
And now he is asking questions related to Tang Tian, not Whiteside's.
Seeing the reporter's expression, Whiteside's thoughts lingering in the cerebral cortex became active again.
He was very unhappy and had to say something.
"He won't make it."
Hearing Whiteside's next words, the reporter became excited.
Whiteside really didn't disappoint him!
"We all watched the Pelicans' games against the Rockets and the Jazz. AD was giving Tang the rebounds in both games. He also became the focus of attention because of this, but I won't let him do that. I will grab every rebound, and Tang will naturally be unable to complete the triple-double."
Whiteside's next paragraph was surprisingly logical.
But this is also the reaction he would have. He needs to shift the focus of attention from Tang Tian to himself.
"Are you saying that Tang Tian is a data刷子(shuā zi) (data padder)?"
The reporter then asked.
As expected of a reporter from Fox Sports, he jumped straight to the most critical part.