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NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Pelicans were a MASH unit last season, so riddled with injuries that their players missed a combined total of 351 games, forcing coach Alvin Gentry to use 42 starting lineup combinations.Now that the calendar has flipped to the 2016-17 season -- with the home opener Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets at Smoothie King Center -- Gentry wouldnt be blamed if he enlisted the aid of a French Quarter voodoo priestess as a way of ensuring the good health of his players, especially All-Star forward Anthony Davis.Davis, the first overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, never missed a game in his 40-game, NCAA championship, freshman season at Kentucky. But, in four NBA seasons, the Pelicans franchise player has missed 68 games with injuries. A medical flow chart indicates he has injured 13 body parts.Davis porcelain reputation can be explained in part by his pedal-to-the-metal style and his penchant for throwing his body into the expensive seats chasing down loose balls. But after Davis season-ending knee injury last March, which required arthroscopic surgery, forced him to withdraw from the U.S. Olympic team, he spent the summer fully rehabbing and continuing to add muscle to his athletic frame.Then, with the Pelicans playing in China on Oct. 12, Davis stepped on the foot of Houston Nenes foot and suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain. But Davis returned for the preseason finale on Friday and is scheduled to start Wednesday.It doesnt concern me, Davis, who averaged 24.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks last year, said about his recent injury history. Its basketball. Injuries are part of basketball.It just seems that the Pelicans have more than most other teams. General manager Dell Demps said Tuesday he does not expect guard Tyreke Evans (knee) to hit the floor until December. Forward Quincy Pondexter (knee), who has not played since April 2015, has had a few setbacks in his recovery and is probably going to take a little bit longer.In addition, starting point guard Jrue Holiday is healthy but is caring for wife Lauren, who last month gave birth and then underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. The Pelicans have placed no timetable on when Holiday will return to the team.Evans injury and Holidays unavailability contribute to the Pelicans decision to keep guard-forward Lance Stephenson, releasing Alonzo Gee even though Gee had a $1.2 million guaranteed contract.With the injuries to Tyreke and Jrue not being with the team, we felt we needed a little more playmaking, Demps said. (Lance) can go out and create and make plays for others.Anybody would be disappointed, but its just a part of it, Gentry said. You hope that everybody gets better.While much of the NBA seems to be enamored with small ball, the Nuggets appear to be getting bigger. Coach Mike Malone paired big men Jusuf Nurkic (7-0) and Nikola Jokic (6-11) during the preseason and appears ready to give it a try for real.Nurkic has shown the ability to draw fouls as the Nuggets work their offense through him, and he is strong on the offensive glass and finishing near the basket. Jokic has been a cog in the Nuggets high-post offense and has shown the ability to pick and pop. Both are considered capable passers.Theres definitely some Balkan buddy ball going on with those two guys, Malone said. They do look for each other, which is great. Theyre so skilled, and the great thing about Nikola is that he can space the floor, so its not like we have two guys that are stuck on the block, which takes away driving lanes from our perimeter players. The floor is open. David West Warriors Jersey . 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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Josh Jackson has been huddling with the Kansas coaching staff since the start of the season, and the message has been the same: If you quit fouling so much, you would say on the floor more.The sensational freshman must have finally listened.Jackson poured in 22 points, many of them on highlight-worthy dunks, while backcourt mates Frank Mason III and Devonte Graham helped carry the load as fifth-ranked Kansas routed Alabama-Birmingham 83-63 on Monday night in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.Me committing silly fouls take me out of the game, and dont allow me to play as much as Id like, said Jackson, who also had seven rebounds and three assists. It worked out today.Mason finished with 20 points and Graham had 16 for the Jayhawks (3-1), who advanced to play Georgia for the title on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs beat George Washington 81-73 in the other semifinal.Kansas raced to a big early lead, weathered several runs by UAB, then relied on their backcourt of Jackson, Mason and Graham to pull away from the Blazers down the stretch.Theyre very good. Theyre obviously one of the best teams in the country, UAB coach Robert Ehsan said. When they shoot it like that, theyre very hard to beat.Dirk Williams led the Blazers (2-2) with 13 points. Tyler Madison had 12.The Blazers got off to what looked like it would be a catastrophic start, turning the ball over seven times and missing their first 11 field-goal attempts. Their only points over the first 10 minutes came on foul shots, and by the time they finally hit the Jayhawks led 23-3.They started off really shooting it bad, and we defended pretty well, Kansas coach Bill Self said, but I didnt think our defense was very good the last 30 minutes. I thought it was average at best.The Blazers took advantage with a run of their own.They ripped off a 17-2 run over the next 6 minutes as the Jayhawks missed seven straight shots of their own, and they quieted a partisan crowd by getting within 27-20 late in the half.If that didnt make Self irate, the way Kansas ended it did. Graham hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds to go, but UAB went coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating basket to deflate the Jayhawks.dddddddddddd.We were exciting going into halftime, Ehsan said. I thought if we could make a run in the second half, we would have a shot. But theyre Kansas for a reason.The teams resumed trading runs early in the second half before the Jayhawks began pulling, and four 3-pointers by Svi Mykhailiuk -- who finished with 15 points -- helped put the game out of reach.We played really well. I think everybodys mind was right, Graham said. We came in focused, just trying to do the little things weve been watching on film that we hadnt been doing well.Jackson added an exclamation mark with just over four minutes left, taking a pass in the open floor and throwing down a windmill dunk while getting fouled for a three-point play.Hes an extremely talented player. His versatility is what Ive been surprised with, how many things he can do on the floor, Ehsan said. Hes a tremendous player.CHARITY STRIPESelf was plenty unhappy with the foul line at both ends of the floor. Kansas sent UAB there 26 times while going just 9 of 19 at its own end. We have to figure out a way to get to the free-throw line, he said, and when we do, itd be nice when we made some every now and then. Were putting people on the line too much and giving people too many free points.BIG PICTUREUAB showed some moxie in rallying from its big early hole, even the Jayhawks never led by fewer than five the rest of the way. It had to be encouraging for first-year coach Robert Ehsan, who is trying to get the Blazers back into the NCAA Tournament this year.Kansas looked tired at times from a brutal start to the season. The Jayhawks played Indiana in Hawaii, Duke in New York and Siena at home on Friday night. The grind continues with the CBE Classic title game before another home game against UNC-Asheville on Friday night.UP NEXTUAB plays in the consolation game Tuesday night.Kansas plays the Bulldogs for the tournament ' ' '