The New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis tipped off the season by having a monstrous game. Davis scored 50 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, forced seven steals, dished out five dimes, and had four four blocks in last night against the Denver Nuggets. THAT’S ALMOST A QUINTUPLE DOUBLE!
Davis is the first player in NBA history to have such a productive stat line, according to Elias Sports. If that wasn’t enough, Davis became the fourth player in history to score 50 points in the season opener. The other three are Michael Jordan (twice), Wilt Chamberlain, and Elgin Baylor.
“He’s one of the best players in the league,” Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said after the game. “It doesn’t surprise me that he has the night like he had. It’s not like this is the first time he’s ever done it.”
Despite Davis historic performance, the Pelicans still fell short and lost 107-102. Welp… Davis is going to need some help if the Pelicans want to win some games.
Let’s be honest, Davis produced over half of the Pelicans points and they still lost. The Pelicans can’t ask much more from Davis.
“The way I played, I’m going to have to – probably not 50 every night, but try to get somewhere along those lines every game to give ourselves a chance.” Davis told media after the game. “We got to go, keep finding guys and trust those guys that they’re going to make shots.”
Bottom line, Davis needs help. Both of Davis’ starting guards are out. Jrue Holiday is taking care of his newborn daughter after his wife underwent brain surgery and Tyreke Evans is dealing with a knee injury. Tim Frazier and E’Twaun Moore have stepped in the starting roles and are doing their best to have good performances.
“When you play against a great player, you have a problem you need to answer,” said Nuggets Coach Mike Malone. “Are you going to shut him down and create problems elsewhere, or are you going to let him get his and hope nobody else goes off?”
While Davis was going off, the rest of the starting lineup up (consisting of Solomon Hill, Tim Frazier, E’Twaun Moore and Omer Asik) shot a combined 11-of-28 and scored just 29 points.
During Wednesday’s loss, Frazier chipped in 15 points, 11 assists and had five rebounds. Moore added 10 points, pulled down five rebounds, had four dimes, had one steal and one block. Truth is Frazier and Moore are good backups and until Holiday and Evans the Pelicans are going to struggle in the backcourt.
Good news for the Pelicans is that Davis is back to his normal self after dealing with injuries last season. Bad news, he can’t be the only producing. First, playing at that level will take a toll on his body. Pelicans have to be smart with Davis’ minute distribution and how much contact he sustains.
The Western Conference is a tough place to win so if the Pelicans want to have a productive season they need to figure out how to help Davis.
