‘Old guy’ Adams praised by coach
Steven Adams has won plaudits from New Orleans Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy after beating the Toronto Raptors 113-99 to open the NBA season.
New Zealander Adams scored eight points and had eight rebounds in his 31 minutes of game time in Tampa on Thursday.
At one stage, he pulled a Euro step, in which a player drives past a defender one way and then quickly takes a big lateral step in the other direction, to confound the Raptors defence.
But it was his defence that drew plaudits from Van Gundy post match.
‘‘He was great defensively, he saved a couple of plays where our rotations were terrible and people
were wide open, and he was able to basically defend two guys on his own, he was tremendous at the defensive end of the floor,’’ Van Gundy said.
When Adams was listed by an interviewer as among the veterans who steadied the ship when the Raptors were leading, after feasting on turnover ball, Van Gundy agreed that was the case.
‘‘Probably the most surprising thing is calling a 27-year-old like Steven one of the old guys,’’ he said.
JJ Redick converted a four-point play with just over a minute remaining and finished with 23 points, and Brandon Ingram led all scorers with 24 points as the Pelicans rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat the Raptors.
Zion Williamson had a big second half for the Pelicans and finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Eric Bledsoe scored 18, as the Pelicans delivered Van Gundy a victory in his New Orleans debut.
‘‘I’d say that we fought very hard in a game that was very, very frustrating,’’ Van Gundy said. ‘‘We were turning the ball over, we were in foul trouble, not a lot was going right for us. We hung in there and kept fighting and then made enough plays and enough shots to pull away.’’
Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 20 points. Kyle Lowry finished with 18 points and 10 assists.
The Pelicans play the Miami Heat in Miami today.