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Pelicans star Davis expects to play full season in healthy condition

Xinhua, October 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

The New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis expressed his preferrence to playing a full season without injury rather than a Most Valuable Player trophy ahead of NBA Global Games here on Tuesday.

In his fourth NBA season, Davis averaged 24.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, eye-catching individual statistics enabling him to contend for the 2015-2016 MVP trophy, but he faced uphill injury issue as the biggest threat to his sporting career as he never played more than 68 games in his previous four seasons.

"My individual goal is to play for a full season, which means that I can be on the floor for 82 games.

"(In terms of the MVP) Where it happens, it happens. Every season I want to get it, it's team success as well as individual success, I will play as hard as I can. For whoever it goes to, it goes to," said Davis.

Pelicans lost Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson to the Houston Rockets, while recruiting Lance Stephenson in the offseason, thus making preseason games a necessity for newcomers to fit into the team system both offensively and defensively.

Buddy Hield, No. 6 draft pick this year as a prolific scorer in his college career, had brilliant performance in last game in Shanghai, finishing 14 points in the offeensive end, also restriting Rockets top scorer James Harden to 6 of 18 shooting in the other end.

"He can shoot the ball, he can handle it, he can pass, he is a hard worker, that's what we expect him to do for the new season," commented Davis on Hield's prospect.

"I think he did as a typical rookie. He is going to have some good games, also some bad games. He is learning. He works extremely hard, and is going to be a good player," said Alvin Gentry, the Pelicans' head coach.

Hield also harvested his confidence in defense from his head-to-head matchup against Harden, one of the league's best scorers.

"It's the first time for me to guard against him. TV looks different, but real life is crazy. He is one of the best scorers in the league, so I just try hard to let him make some tough shots," recalled Hield.

The second game of NBA Global Games series will be held in Beijing on Wednesday. The Pelicans lost to the Rockets 123-117 last Sunday in Shanghai.

"We've got to be better in transition and defense. We had a crucial turnover in Shanghai. The third one is that we need to do a good job on boards. We lost too many offensive rebounds in last game," said Gentry. Endit