Pelicans at Raptors
The battle between the defending champions and the No. 1 overall pick loses a little luster with Kawhi Leonard and Zion Williamson out of the mix, but the excitement of opening night of NBA basketball should keep the fans happy. The Leonard-less Toronto Raptors are set to raise their championship banner when they host the Williamson-less New Orleans Pelicans in the season opener on Tuesday.
Leonard was the Finals MVP while delivering the Raptors their first NBA title last spring but left to join the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, leaving Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam - both of whom signed lengthy contract extensions on the eve of the regular season - to carry the load. "You fill the void as a team and you play differently but I think we have a lot of confidence," veteran center Marc Gasol, who arrived in a trade last season and helped solidified the team's defense, told reporters. "We trust one another. We know what we are about. We know each other's strengths; we protect each other's weaknesses and that makes great basketball. ... This year we're (all) going to have a little bit more. The ball will continue to move and find the open guy." The Pelicans look a little different as well after trading away former franchise player Anthony Davis and grabbing a new one with a surprising lottery win and No. 1 overall pick Williamson, who is out with a knee injury. "At the end of the day, we're a group trying to compete and play hard and we'll see where it takes us," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. "We know it's a long year and we know there will be ups and downs, but the thing we always talk about is that whenever we play a game or leave a practice, we have to feel we improved in something that day."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE PELICANS (2018-19: 33-49): New Orleans will have four new starters once Williamson returns, with point guard Lonzo Ball and small forward Brandon Ingram joining the team in the deal for Davis and center Derrick Favors coming over via trade from the Utah Jazz. The lone holdover is guard Jrue Holiday, who figures to get the bulk of the minutes in a crowded backcourt rotation that includes newcomers Josh Hart and JJ Redick along with holdovers Frank Jackson and E'Twaun Moore and rookie Nickiel Alexander-Walker. "It's just a situation where some nights, guys just aren't going to play," Gentry told reporters. "For us to be a really good team, you are going to have to accept that, with the understanding some nights the other guys are going to play. There's just no getting around it. We do have a lot of players who are very similar skill-wise who are multiple position guys."
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (2018-19: 58-24): Toronto brought in veterans Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Stanley Johnson to help fill the hole left at small forward with the departure of Leonard, but the entire team will be responsible for making up for the loss of production. "I hope and think it can be shared by in-house guys," Raptors coach Nick Nurse told reporters. "It's more of a responsibility for Siakam to guard a better player. OG (Anunoby), Norm (Powell), Fred (VanVleet), Pat McCaw - those guys have been around and know who we are and how we want to play. It's just expanding their roles and raising their levels a little bit." Siakam was voted the NBA's Most Improved Player last season and enters 2019-20 with high expectations after averaging 19 points in the postseason and signing a four-year, $130 million extension.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Williamson will reportedly miss a "period of weeks" with the knee injury.
2. Hollis-Jefferson (groin) and McCaw (knee) are questionable for the Raptors.
3. Toronto took seven of the last eight meetings, with the lone loss in that span coming at home last season.