- Title: Pelicans' Davis injured in preseason loss to Rockets
- Date: 12th October 2016
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (OCTOBER 12, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** NEW ORLEANS PELICANS COACH, ALVIN GENTRY, WALKING IN FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MAN TAKING PHOTO (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ORLEANS PELICANS COACH, ALVIN GENTRY, SAYING: (ON INJURY TO ANTHONY DAVIS) "It's an ankle sprain and I don't know what grade it is, I haven't been able to talk to the trainers yet." GENTRY AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ORLEANS PELICANS COACH, ALVIN GENTRY, SAYING: "It's almost like in the NBA when you have a long road trip and you play the last game, you really have to be mentally tough and we weren't mentally tough tonight." NEW ORLEANS PELICANS PLAYER, LANCE STEPHENSON, WALKING IN FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MAN ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ORLEANS PELICANS PLAYER, LANCE STEPHENSON, SAYING: (ON NEW ORLEANS PELICANS PLAYER BUDDY HIELD) "Buddy is learning as quickly as possible, what I try to do... I just try to help him out in practice, try to get him in the right spots, try to help him because he's a great scorer so I just try to help him know how to pick and choose when he can be aggressive and make smart plays, because he's got very high potential." STEPHENSON AT NEWS CONFERENCE HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYER, JAMES HARDEN, WALKING IN FOR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST TAKING PHOTO (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYER, JAMES HARDEN, SAYING: "You know my role really doesn't change, just got the ball in my hands a little bit more but just making the right play, whether scoring or passing the ball and just really getting us into our offence a little quicker." JOURNALISTS STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOUSTON ROCKETS COACH, MIKE D'ANTONI, SAYING: "When you have rookies and people who need to know how to play in the NBA their role on a night like tonight is they have to supply the energy and I thought they didn't do it for a while, they got back a little bit but there's no excuse not to, you know I can understand a veteran every once in a while when a game gets sloppy and it's preseason, but a rookie trying to make the team, that ticked me off a little bit." D'ANTONI AT PRESS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 27th October 2016 18:04
- Keywords: NBA Houston Rockets New Orleans Pelicans China Anthony Davis
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- City: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Basketball,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00153PATDR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Houston Rockets downed the New Orleans Pelicans 116-104 in the second leg of their preseason friendly in Beijing on Wednesday (October 12).
For the Pelicans it was a doubly disappointing evening, with what coach Alvin Gentry described as a low-energy performance being further dragged down by an injury to star player Anthony Davis.
Addressing reporters after the match, Gentry confirmed that Davis had suffered an ankle injury but said he was not yet sure how serious it was.
"It's an ankle sprain and I don't know what grade it is, I haven't been able to talk to the trainers yet," said Gentry.
The coach likened his team's performance to the last of a road trip during the regular season.
"It's almost like in the NBA when you have a long road trip and you play the last game, you really have to be mentally tough and we weren't mentally tough tonight," said Gentry.
The Houston Rockets new point guard James Harden said he was happy with his adjustment into the new position.
"My role really doesn't change, just got the ball in my hands a little bit more but just making the right play, whether scoring or passing the ball and just really getting us into our offence a little quicker," Harden said.
Despite the win, Rockets coach Mike D'antoni said he was not exactly happy with the performances of some of the members of the team.
"When you have rookies and people who need to know how to play in the NBA their role on a night like tonight is they have to supply the energy and I thought they didn't do it for a while, they got back a little bit but there's no excuse not to, you know I can understand a veteran every once in a while when a game gets sloppy and it's preseason, but a rookie trying to make the team, that ticked me off a little bit," he said.
Both teams will now return back to the U.S. for the NBA regular season which will begin on October 25. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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