Golden State Warriors star guard Steph Curry lauded Anthony Davis, following the New Orleans Pelicans forward's NBA playoffs debut.
Davis posted 35 points and had seven rebounds in the Pelicans' 106-99 loss to the Western Conference's top seeds, with Curry (34 points) leading the Warriors to victory at the Oracle Arena in game one of their best-of-seven series.
Curry said Davis breathed life into the Pelicans late on, with the former number one draft pick posting 18 points in the final five minutes, five seconds of the contest.
Davis' burst brought the Pelicans within four points with 9.7 seconds to play, but the Warriors held on - almost blowing an 18-point final-quarter lead.
"He got comfortable," Curry said of Davis.
"We want to obviously make a couple of adjustments with how aggressive he was in the second half. But everybody goes through those first half nerves and jitters in the playoffs.
"I remember my first [playoff] game in Denver two years ago. It was kind of a similar situation, antsy, and anxious, ready to get out there and get a feel for what it's like, and then you kind of settle in.
"I know there are guys on our team that went through that same experience.
"Obviously, AD changed the game in the fourth quarter with the way he played, and we're going to have to deal with that all series.
"That's why it's going to be tough. To win four games, we're going to have to focus and lock in."
Warriors coach Steve Kerr added: "We're not worried about Davis scoring a lot of points. We're worried about making sure we cover other areas: the three point line, not fouling, not reaching … that kind of stuff."
Curry said the Warriors' shooting options were adequately curbed by the Pelicans' defence, giving the series favourites something to think about.
"We've got to find a way to create good three-point opportunities by moving the ball and setting screens for each other," he said.
"We did that well in the first half. The key for us and takeaway I got from my individual game is there are possessions where you think you have an advantage, maybe it's a … mismatch or something like that where they're taught to really try to close that space.
"To settle for jump shots in that situation might not be beneficial for us."