The New Orleans Pelicans big man dropped an NBA season-high 59 points in his team’s 111-106 win over the Detroit Pistons, also notching 20 rebounds along the way. Davis joined Chris Webber and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players since 1983-84 to notch a 50-point, 20-rebound stat line. Watch:
Davis nailed 24-34 shots on his way to the career high, and just about everyone got a taste. Detroit floated All-Star center Andre Drummond as his ostensible lead defender along with forwards Marcus Morris, Anthony Tolliver, and reserve center Aron Baynes. It hardly mattered: Davis’ perimeter game was on point all afternoon, and he seemed to ramp up his energy level as the contest moved along – 29 of New Orleans’ 31 fourth quarter points either came from Davis or point man Jrue Holiday (who finished with 20 points off the bench).
The Pelicans managed to keep the Pistons at arm’s length for the bulk of the second half, but that doesn’t mean that Davis’ 59 points weren’t badly needed. Detroit hung in the contest with timely three-pointers and 34 points from point guard Reggie Jackson.
Nothing was getting in Davis’ way, though. He paired perfect touch from the outside (2-2 from behind the three-point arc) with his usual array of long twos, he posted up well, took care of business at the free throw line (9-10), and tossed in his typical allotment of slams against the NBA’s 12th-ranked defense.
Afterward, as you’d expect, his teammates gave him the treatment:
This has been a rough year for the Pelicans. Sunday’s win still leaves the team 5.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the West with 27 left to play for the 22-33 squad. Davis made the Western Conference All-Star team, but sadly preseason talk of him acting as an MVP candidate has dimmed quite a bit. The team looked to deal teammate Ryan Anderson, seen above dousing Davis with cold water, at the trade deadline – fearful of the idea that he’d leave New Orleans for no compensation as a free agent this summer.
Still, in a year gone terribly wrong, the team still has its 22-year old franchise talent to fall back on, as it attempts to build a winner moving forward. AD’s relative youth wasn’t lost on NBA observers as they watched him score all over the Pistons on Sunday:
Sunday’s win was a reminder of the promise that we were all giddy about last October. Anthony Davis is a remarkable talent, and even though he is years away from his prime, we can only hope that his 20s aren’t wasted on lacking, injury-plagued teams.
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