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Pelicans coach not taking Raptors lightly despite Leonard's absence

TORONTO — New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry wasn't letting the absence of Kawhi Leonard cloud his opinion of the defending champion Toronto Raptors.

Gentry, whose Pelicans opened the season Tuesday night against the Raptors, said Toronto remains a dangerous team despite losing its prized superstar to the L.A. Clippers in free agency this off-season.

"Bryce Harper's gone too, right? And where are the Nationals now? So I don't know if we're ready to short sell these guys at all," Gentry said, referencing the Washington Nationals, who are competing for the World Series after losing their own superstar to free agency last year. 

"They say you have to have championship pedigree and all of (the Raptors) have championship pedigree. They say you have to experience tough times, obviously they've gone through some tough times.

"You can never even remotely replace a guy like Kawhi but I think you have a group of guys here and you have a great coach and I feel like they have a chip on their shoulders playing this year. I wouldn't count these guys out just yet."

Toronto won its first NBA championship in franchise history last June, beating the Golden State Warriors in six games.

The Raptors held a ring presentation ceremony and unfurled their championship banner before Tuesday's game.

It was the second time Gentry had been present for the raising of an opponent's championship banner to the rafters on opening day — the Pelicans also began the 2015-16 season in Golden State months after the Warriors won in June 2015.

Gentry said before the game he wanted his players to pay attention to the ceremony.

"I think that to see the excitement, to see the euphoria that comes along with winning a championship, especially after all the hard work is put in, I think it's worth looking at and seeing and really wanting to be involved in something like that," he said. "It's something you never forget, it's historic, it connects that group of people forever. So yeah, I think being able to see that is a positive.

"I think it can be a motivational factor for your team."

Melissa Couto, The Canadian Press


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