The fan discussions on social media were heated, and the upcoming Western Conference Finals games became even more anticipated.

With the Pelicans tying the score, the two teams would face off in a pivotal Game 5.

This was the first time in the Pelicans' past two seasons that they'd been pushed to a Game 5, indicating that the two teams were evenly matched.

And it was precisely this kind of situation that made people look forward to the upcoming Game 5 even more.

For the Pelicans, the best news was that Game 5 would be played in New Orleans, allowing them to conserve their strength.

Back in New Orleans, Tang Tian hadn't seen his son for five days and felt a strong yearning in his heart.

As soon as he returned to the manor, he saw Yongqi and Towns chasing American Shorthairs on the lawn.

Little Lion watched quietly in the distance, ears drooping, looking very relaxed.

Seeing Tang Tian return, both sons ran towards him.

Although he didn't spend much time with them due to his long basketball career, the frequent video calls meant that his sons were still very attached to him.

Kisses, hugs, and tossing them high in the air.

Tang Tian's love for his sons could truly be described as doting.

After playing with his sons for a while, he called Karl to bring over the new toys he'd bought from Oakland, then had the nanny take them to play for a while.

Sitting on the wicker chair on the lawn, sipping hot coffee, he was finally able to enjoy a rare moment of leisure.

"I saw social media," Olsen said, holding the back of Tang Tian's hand.

"What did they say?" Tang Tian asked, smiling at Olsen.

To focus on helping the team defend their title, he'd shut down his social media after the playoffs started.

He only heard about occasional things from Olsen.

Since he'd played well in the last game and won, social media was probably mostly praising him.

Sure enough, Olsen opened her mouth with a smile, saying something very close to what he'd guessed.

"You need to be careful of Pachulia."

But at the end, Olsen specifically reminded Tang Tian.

Tang Tian nodded.

What Olsen said was probably something fans had been discussing on social media.

But the reminder was still timely.

Game 5 was crucial; most directly, according to historical statistics, the team that won Game 5 had an 82% chance of advancing.

If the scope was narrowed to teams with home-court advantage, that number would rise to over 90%.

In other words, after losing Game 4, if the Warriors wanted to win this series, the first thing they had to do was go all out to win Game 5.

And to achieve this, the possibility of some non-basketball tactics emerging was still there.

Especially since the Warriors had a history of doing so.

Two days passed quickly.

Before the Warriors and Pelicans faced off in Game 5, there were two other noteworthy things in the league.

The first was the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Knicks had tied the score by winning two consecutive games, and they would also face the Cavaliers in a pivotal Game 5.

Their situation was the same as in the Western Conference Finals.

Howard still played with an injury, and although they were playing on the road, the Knicks were still in high spirits.

However, this Game 5 was far from what was expected.

James entered the zone from the start, scoring 18 points and 5 assists in a single quarter, unstoppable.

The Knicks had no way to deal with this Little Emperor.

Moreover, James not only played outstandingly on offense, but he also shut down Anthony on defense.

In the end, led by James, the Cavaliers led the Knicks by more than 20 points in three quarters, and eventually defeated the Knicks 114-94 to take Game 5.

After the game, fans couldn't help but sigh that James was stimulated by Tang Tian and played out the value of his position as the league's second-best player.

This kind of state also made them look forward to a possible Pelicans-Cavaliers rematch even more.

At that time, James and Tang Tian would both be able to shoot, pass, break through, and have first-class stamina in a peak duel, plus the rosters of both sides would be incredibly exciting.

In addition to the Eastern Conference Finals, another noteworthy thing was the sixth batch of seasonal awards.

There was only one award in this batch, Rookie of the Year.

The Rookie of the Year honor was much weaker than the previous MVP, but this year it received a lot of attention.

The reason for this was that the first pick, Ben Simmons, only played 20-odd games due to injury and was unable to participate in the Rookie of the Year selection.

Second, the second pick, Ingram, performed miserably in Philadelphia, averaging less than 10 points per game.

In addition, the performance of other rookies was also average, which made the Rookie of the Year selection confusing.

To put it nicely, the competition was fierce; to put it bluntly, it was choosing the tallest among the dwarves.

As of now, the rookies with relatively high voices were Šarić, Hield, and Brogdon.

Šarić was a first-round pick in 2014, and after playing overseas for two years, he landed in the NBA. According to the rules, he would also be included in the Rookie of the Year selection.

This season, he played as Randle's backup on the 76ers, averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds.

The data was eye-catching among the rookies, but his shooting percentage was lacking, with 41% on two-pointers and 31% on three-pointers, which was unqualified for an inside player.

Hield averaged 12.6 points and 3.5 rebounds, and his scoring was the highest among the rookies except for Simmons. His 42.6% on two-pointers and 39.1% on three-pointers were also eye-catching.

He was also the hottest candidate for Rookie of the Year.

Of the three, Brogdon was the most unexpected to enter the candidate list.

The 76ers and Kings were both weak teams, and rookies could easily produce data in them, but Brogdon performed quite well on the Pelicans, the defending champion team.

He averaged 9.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, with a 47% shooting percentage and a 41% three-point shooting percentage.

Although the data was average, due to the Pelicans' exposure, his mature and steady style was also liked by the media and fans.

The final selection results came out, and the three's voting rates were 22%, 33%, and 40% in order.

Brogdon finally defeated Hield and Šarić to be successfully elected as the Rookie of the Year of the season!

He also broke a record, becoming the only Rookie of the Year in NBA history to average less than 10 points per game!

The release of this selection result led to another wave of heated discussions on social media among fans.

"The strongest rookie is already on the team!"

"Winning the championship, taking the strongest rookie, possessing the present, and possessing the future, I just want to ask, why can I be so happy as a Pelicans fan!"

"Brogdon's style of play is really rare among rookies. If he was on other weak teams, averaging 15+ is completely possible! He is really strong!"

"No ifs, an average of less than 10 points for Rookie of the Year? This year's NBA is too funny!" A comment from a Jokic fan.

"Although I also like Brogdon very much, I think he is really still a distance away from the Rookie of the Year." A comment from a Brogdon fan.

"Brogdon played very well, but he's really not worthy of Rookie of the Year, I strongly support Hield this wave." A comment from a Boban fan.

……

ps: Special thanks to _john_ for the ten thousand reward!