Anthony Davis’ brilliance covers up the Pelicans’ flaws
If the season opener was any indication, Davis may actually be good enough to help New Orleans overcome many issues.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
By putting together a 26-point, 17-rebound, nine-block, three-steal performance against the depleted Orlando Magic on Tuesday, Pelicans forward Anthony Davis made a statement as the NBA season begins. The myriad of ways he came about those numbers against the Magic and how effective he was without being more than the most freakish athlete on the floor should make the Pelicans hopeful that a near-triple-double is far from Davis' ceiling.
If he's not already the next best thing behind LeBron James and Kevin Durant, then it's not hard to imagine he will be, and soon.
As a team, New Orleans wasn’t exactly efficient by shooting 41 percent overall, an abysmal 24 percent from the three-point line and 15-for-31 on threes. But it was all the intangibles, led by Davis, that pushed them forward. Davis’ individual performance said as much about the his team’s weaknesses as it did about how they can overcome them.
Along with the 17-rebound, five-block debut from New Orleans center Omer Asik, Davis created issues in the paint for the Magic, who shot 38 percent from the field. The third-year forward had a hand in Orlando losing the battles on the break (17-10 in favor of the Pellies), in second-chance points (32-19) and points in the paint (64-48).
Those numbers obviously frustrated Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn, per the Times Picayune:
“I glanced at the stat sheet before I walked out here and to see us hold a team to 40 percent,” he said. “I think they made four threes throughout the night and for us to lose by double digits, pretty tough to fathom. Give them (Pelicans) a lot of credit for their aggressiveness, their physicality that they play with, their second-chance points and getting to the board, it stares you in the face. That was the difference in the game.”
Davis' nine blocks came in every which way. He swatted putbacks, drives, jumpers and post-up attempts. On a single play following teammate Eric Gordon's own block on a Magic jumper, Davis blocked an Elfrid Payton drive and, once Payton corralled the loose ball, also sent the putback the other way:
Pelicans’ Anthony Davis does everything in season opener: http://t.co/LUsBE7afQN Brow’s block chart for this game: pic.twitter.com/CaRYvsxHB2
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) October 29, 2014 Then there was the rebounding that pretty much led to Davis’ offense. His 26 points rarely came in any organized fashion. Two catch-and-shoot jumpers made up the forward’s 10 makes, but the rest were easy transition buckets, second-chance points or dunks after Davis was, as always, using his strong nose for the ball.
Other than Davis, few Pelicans impressed. The lack of shooting on the Pelicans' roster reared its head outside of Ryan Anderson, who produced 22 points on 22 shots and in 22 minutes. The now healthy perimeter trio of Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and Gordon shot a combined 12-for-34 from the field and don't have the greatest expectations in helping space the court, either. This allowed the Magic to successfully keep Davis from getting easy opportunities in the paint. Davis went 10-for-22 from the floor, hitting 2-of-6 attempts outside the paint.
Near the rim, a still-thin Davis struggled to finish on post moves, drives and any shot attempts through contact:
The offensive issues on Tuesday night only spell out how much room for improvement remains in Davis' game. He's just 21 years old and on an off night put up a near-triple-double performance. It was the first time a player has recorded such numbers since 2008, when Dwight Howard rolled up 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks.
And at the team level, from a very, very small sample size -- one game early in the year against a subpar team -- it appears New Orleans needs Davis to be this great every night. Their starting lineup lacks spacing and Gordon and Evans still get in each other’s way.
That Davis can impact the game to such a degree despite his room for growth on the offensive end especially bodes well for the Pelicans. They’ll need him to be this good every night to make the playoffs in a deep West.
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