Chapter 773 Tang Tian’s Tattoo (Second Update!)

After the East-West matchup was announced, the media and fans couldn't help but start making predictions.

TNT has secured the broadcast rights for all playoff games just like last year. In the latest episode of the show, the Big Three will inevitably have to make professional predictions.

Their opinions on the other groups are basically the same, except for the Spurs, Thunder, Pelicans and Mavericks.

"The Thunder will blow the Spurs away, and the Pelicans will sweep the Mavericks."

O'Neal's prediction was quite straightforward, but it also attracted wild opposition from Barkley and Smith.

"Man, the Mavericks are not as weak as you think. They won't be swept, and they even have a chance to win."

Barkley agreed with the first half of O'Neal's sentence, but strongly opposed the second half.

"I don't think the Spurs will lose to the Thunder. Popovich's coaching in the playoffs is incredible."

Kenny Smith is a former Spurs player and he has high regard for his former coach.

"And Kenny is right. The Pelicans' performance this season is somewhat similar to that of the Hawks last season. If they don't perform well, I wouldn't be too surprised if they lose to the Mavericks."

Smith completely denied O'Neal's statement.

"Come on! The Pelicans have Don, they're in a completely different situation than the Hawks, and they got 74 wins, guys, 74 wins!"

O'Neal couldn't complain about the comments made by his two partners.

This is because you have been following him for a long time, and you instinctively oppose his views. This is a bully!

"Shaq, please note that the Mavericks have Nowitzki, Butler, Harris and Embiid. After they work together, they should be a top three team in the league. It's just an accident that they are ranked eighth now."

Buckley said with a smile.

"Yes, the Pelicans have won 74 games, and they still have Don. They have a greater chance of winning, but the strength gap between the two sides is not that big. The Mavericks are very hopeful."

Smith chimed in with a smile.

The hardest thing in the world is to convince people who have different opinions than your own.

O'Neal had no choice but to show his hands. It seemed that they could not reach an agreement between the two groups.

In fact, not only media like TNT, but also fans also have huge differences in their judgments on the two sets of matches.

The latest survey shows that 53% of fans really think the Spurs can defeat the Thunder.

In the matchup between the Pelicans and the Mavericks, this proportion was higher, but only 62%.

This is much lower than the Warriors (90%) and Rockets (85%).

In theory, the Pelicans' 74 wins are convincing enough.

However, the strength of the Mavericks on paper, coupled with the Pelicans' failure to qualify for the playoffs, still makes fans not confident enough in them.

In other words, although the Pelicans had an incredible regular season, they still have a lot to prove in the playoffs.

The Pelicans have the best record in the league and have home court advantage against all teams in the playoffs.

The first game of the first-round playoffs will be played in New Orleans, two days after the end of the regular season.

Stevens trains strictly, but he took it easy in the two days before the playoffs. He only arranged training in the morning and gave the players rest in the afternoon.

At the end of the day's training, Tang Tian came out of the shower and saw Ariza wiping himself.

He took a special look and saw that the tattoo on Ariza's chest was the image of Ariza's younger brother as Stephenson said.

This shows that the rumors Stephenson mentioned at the beginning are true.

He looked away and suddenly remembered something related to tattoos.

During the 2010-2011 season, Jason Terry of the Mavericks had a championship trophy tattooed on the inside of his bicep in order to build confidence for his teammates to win the championship.

This move shocked everyone at the time. Not only did the outside world laugh at his actions, but even his teammates thought he was just joking at first.

After all, the Mavericks at that time were not even considered favorites to win the championship.

But in the end, the Mavericks really won the most incredible championship that season.

Terry's performance in the playoffs, especially the finals, was very eye-catching.

Although the Mavericks won the championship not solely because of that tattoo, it was clearly one of many factors that contributed to the championship.

Tattoos, like getting hair done, are a very popular thing among NBA players.

Tang Tian was a coach in his previous life, and as a Chinese, he was not that interested in this area.

But Terry's story, coupled with Ariza's experience, gave him this idea.

Davis had just come out of the shower at this time, and Tang Tian stopped him directly.

"Let's get a championship trophy tattooed on our arm."

Tang Tian said very directly.

Davis didn't react at first, but after he sat down and finished chatting with Tang Tian, ​​he nodded in agreement.

What they want to do is the same as what Terry did originally, and even the purpose is the same.

But the current situation of the Pelicans is definitely different from that of the Mavericks.

The Mavericks are reborn from a desperate situation, and they are determined to win.

After losing in the playoffs last year, they have no reason to lose again this season.

Especially after such a brilliant regular season, the championship has become their only goal.

Since you have no choice, get it tattooed on your arm to remind yourself all the time.

There was no training in the afternoon anyway, so the two of them went to the tattoo shop together.

Terry originally had the championship trophy tattooed on the inside of his bicep so it wouldn't be too conspicuous.

But both Tang Tian and Davis chose to tattoo it on the outside.

They have nothing to cover their eyes, and having the tattoo on the outside better reminds them of who they are.

During the training session the next day, when Tang Tian and Davis appeared in the training hall, they elicited a burst of excited screams from their teammates.

Davis had a tattoo before, so they didn't notice it immediately, but this was Tang Tian's first serious experience.

And with such an eye-catching championship trophy, it’s hard not to see it.

"Yes, that's it!"

Stephenson shouted excitedly.

"It's ours!"

Boyang also spoke.

Although Jokic and Ariza did not speak, they had confident smiles on their faces.

Terry's tattoo was considered a joke by his teammates at first, but after Tang Tian and Davis got tattooed, their teammates responded by becoming more confident.

Both the team's boss and second-in-command have made this statement. They really have to win the championship this season!

In this day's training session, the team members were all in high spirits.

Stevens was surprised when he saw it, but when he saw Tang Tian and Davis' new tattoos, he understood.

His confidence in the playoffs also grew.

Getting such a tattoo is equivalent to completely cutting off one's escape route.

After all, if you don’t win the championship, you will become the laughing stock of your entire career, and you will never be able to recover from the humiliation.

Tang Tian and Davis are willing to risk their lives to survive. If they don't succeed, they will become benevolent. This is pressure but also motivation.

The core of the team is so confident, and he, as a coach, must also be confident.