Pause, the Spurs played a beautiful cooperation, Leonard received the ball and cut in for a layup.

However, Davis' arms were really long, providing a strong interference on the help defense, forcibly destroying it.

Turning around, Davis set a screen for Durant in the frontcourt, and after receiving the pass, he cut in and scored, also drawing a defensive foul on George!

He's gone mad!

Davis has gone mad!

In this quarter, no, all night, he was like Tang Tian possessed, unstoppable!

When he made the extra free throw, the Pelicans once again extended their lead to 10 points!

At the critical moment, Leonard made a difficult turnaround fadeaway jumper in a double team, helping the Spurs stop the bleeding.

But turning around, Durant and Davis ran a pick and roll again, this time he stopped suddenly and took a mid-range shot himself.

"Swish!"

He made it!

Davis' excellent state even brought the Pelicans' state up with him!

Leonard took another shot in a double team in the frontcourt.

"Clang!"

Missed!

After all, he's not Tang Tian, and his offensive strength is far from reaching Tang Tian's level where "a double team is an open shot."

In other words, because he was slow to pass the ball, he was forced to take more shots under the double team, but this style of play was very inefficient.

Without Tang Tian's assistance, Popovich's on-the-spot adjustments became insufficient, and he didn't solve this problem all night.

The Pelicans scored 30 to 15 in the third quarter, which also determined the outcome in one fell swoop.

In the end, the Pelicans rebounded strongly and defeated the Spurs 116-102 at home, taking the first win of the series!

Leonard had a rare poor performance, shooting only 7 of 23 and scoring only 20 points.

Moreover, with Leonard being limited, George and Aldridge didn't provide enough help, the former had 15 points and 6 rebounds, and the latter had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The performance of these three core players was clearly not enough to help them win.

Davis was the brightest star of the game, he shot 12 of 22 from the field, 2 of 5 from three-point range, and 14 of 16 from the free-throw line, efficiently scoring 40 points and 12 rebounds.

Durant had 27 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, and Holiday had 18 points and 7 assists.

The Pelicans' three core players combined for 85 points, and compared to the Spurs, their performance was clearly better tonight.

Although they were still behind 1-2 in the series, this victory was a great boost to the Pelicans' morale.

After the game, reporters caught up with Tang Tian and asked him what he thought of the team's victory tonight, Tang Tian summarized it in a very simple sentence.

"I am proud of their performance."

In one sentence, Tang Tian had said everything he wanted to say.

Although he had talked to Davis alone before the game, the fact also proved that it triggered Davis's explosion.

But in the third quarter, which determined the outcome of the game, the Pelicans relied on excellent tactical execution and a collective outburst to pull away the score.

Such a performance was well deserved of the word proud.

Of course, winning the third game only allowed the Pelicans to catch their breath.

Because they were behind 1-2 in the series, the next home game was still crucial for the Pelicans.

If they fell into a 1-3 deficit in the series with the Spurs, it would be disastrous for the Pelicans.

Taking the next game in one go, and then fighting for Game 5, is the key for them to reverse the situation.

Before Game 4, fans once again collectively spoke out for the Pelicans on social media.

Tang Tian also had交流 with Stevens, hoping the latter would give the team a pre-emptive warning.

The big win in the third game was certainly gratifying, but they couldn't take the Spurs lightly.

Moreover, he and Stevens also had tactical exchanges.

Popovich was likely to stretch the space in this game and then give Leonard enough one-on-one space.

A double team is relative, if it comes late, Leonard is enough to complete the offense, if it comes early, even if Leonard's ability to pass the ball is average, he can pass the ball out.

In other words, Popovich is likely to use the early one-star four-shooter play that Tang Tian used during his time with the Pelicans.

It would be difficult for the Pelicans to respond.

If that really happened, they could only rely on the person defending Leonard one-on-one, and Leonard's own state.

On May 20th, US time, Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals continued at the New Orleans Arena.

The arena was packed, and the fans' enthusiasm was even greater than the previous game.

After the Pelicans强势 won Game 3, they naturally expected the team to continue that state and tie the series.

After the introduction ceremony, the starting lineups of the two teams were gradually released.

The visiting team came out first, and as Tang Tian predicted, Popovich replaced White with Belinelli, using a one-star four-shooter lineup.

Tang Tian didn't spend two years with the Spurs for nothing, he had a deep enough understanding of Popovich.

The Pelicans also had a change, Gasol returned to the starting lineup, Durant played at the two, and Davis guarded Leonard.

This pre-emptive response was already perfect.

However, not long after the game started, the Pelicans fell into passivity.

After the space was stretched, Davis still struggled to defend Leonard.

Leonard's ball-handling offense has improved a lot this season, and Davis is at a disadvantage in footwork and movement speed, being broken through several times in a row.

But turning around, Leonard's fronting and steals made it impossible for Davis to发挥 as freely as he did in the previous game.

In the end, thanks to Leonard's brave performance of 30 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, the Spurs defeated the Pelicans 106-96 on the road.

1-3, although they didn't want to, and they had made enough preparations before the game, the Pelicans were still in a passive situation.

Without Tang Tian, the Spurs are even stronger, and it is really difficult for the Pelicans to win the series.

After Game 4, the locker room was quiet, and the next day's training was also dull.

The victory in Game 3 had once given them hope, but the reality of Game 4 ruthlessly shattered that hope.

Stevens also knew that it would be difficult for the Pelicans to continue, and he took the initiative to find Tang Tian this time, hoping that he could give the players a pep talk.

Tang Tian agreed.

Before the team set off for San Antonio, Tang Tian gave a speech in the locker room.

But unlike all the speeches he had given before, this time he didn't say anything passionate, and may even have been a bit salty.

"Remember when you won Game 3 three days ago, I said in front of the reporters that I was proud of you, and now I still say that, I am still the same, I am still proud of you.

Your performance has been good enough, no one can ask you to do anything more, I won't do things like reversing the victory."

Stevens thought he had misheard, and he and the others looked at Tang Tian in surprise.

"I just want to say one thing, the next game may be your last game of the season, no matter how the game goes, don't have any regrets.

I won the World Cup in the summer, so I was in a good mood all summer, Kevin lost, he has recovered now, but I bet he didn't have a very happy summer.

Including Ad, he didn't get to play in the World Cup, and he must be very concerned about it.

But what has happened cannot be changed, maybe one day in the future you will look back on this journey, and you will be happy, you will be annoyed, you will have many emotions.

Just like I said, no matter what that is, you haven't let that become the past yet.

Just like I said, no matter how the game goes, don't leave any regrets for yourself."

Lin Hai Ting Tao