NEW ORLEANS -- Even after scoring 45 points for the second time in under a month, the simpler times of Anthony Davis'
rookie season don’t feel too far away. Back then, when his trademark
brow made up the largest percentage of hair on his face, a big night
meant finishing above his modest 13.5 scoring average.
“My rookie year, I was like, ‘I just want to get 20,’” he said.
My, how things have changed.
Davis
said a Pelicans personnel member told him Wednesday, “’If I don’t get
30 I play bad.” His response to such a claim, he said, is always the
same:
“Did we get the win, though? If we get the win then I’m good.”
That
wasn’t the case at the start of the season. Davis dropped 50 in the
opener, and the Pelicans lost. He had 45 the next night out, and the
Pelicans lost. There were nights of 35, 33 and 34, too, as New Orleans
lost its first eight games and found itself on the brink of once again
becoming a permanent resident of the Western Conference’s basement.
That’s changed, too. One night after pouring it on Atlanta’s top-ranked defense, the Pelicans blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves -- the team that was supposed to usurp their place as the NBA's en vogue upstart -- 117-96 at the Big Blender. The victory brings them to 4-0 since the return of Jrue Holiday and marks their first four-game winning streak since Alvin Gentry took over in the summer of 2015.
“Any
time you win or any time you have a winning streak, you’re kind of in a
groove and you’re feeling good as a team,” Holiday said. “It always
feels great. Obviously with where we are in the standings, in the
Western Conference, it feels good just to be included back in it.”
As
big as Holiday’s impact has been -- on the ball movement (27 assists
Wednesday), on an already-solid defense (the Wolves shot 38.4 percent
from the floor), on their third-to-last-ranked 3-point shooting (0-for-2
for Holiday but 38 percent as a team) -- the turnaround doesn’t happen
without Davis’ climb to another stratosphere this season.
Davis,
who opened the night third in the NBA in scoring and first in blocked
shots, finished with 45 points (17-for-27), 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2
steals, 1 block and long list of benchmarks reached, including his third
game this season -- and 10th in his career -- of 40 points and 10
rebounds.
The rest of the league? Just one.
“I’m amazed
every time by the shots he’s able to do it [through] double-teams and
triple-teams,” Frazier said. “It’s an MVP performance.”
That’s certainty how the crowd felt, as those in attendance serenaded Davis with “M-V-P” chants more than once.
“The
first couple times you block it out, but then it gets louder and
louder, so you kind of hear it,” Davis said. “In the past, every time I
hear it I kind of like get happy or something and I miss the free throw.
So now you hear it and I just try to concentrate on making the free
throw.”
When the Pelicans defeated the Sacramento Kings on April 3, 2015, marking the last time they won a fourth straight game, Eric Gordon was the high scorer, with 21 points. Davis finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Holiday,
though sidelined at the time, is one of the remaining healthy core
pieces left on the Pelicans who could speak to Davis’ growth.
But
as Holiday wryly pointed out after the game, you don’t need to have much
of an expertise in Davis’ personal history to realize the obvious: He’s
playing better than ever before.
“Everybody could say that,” Holiday said. “My man can score on 10 people.”
2016-2017 Northwest Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma City | 8 | 8 | .500 | 0 | L3 |
| Utah | 8 | 8 | .500 | 0 | W1 |
| Portland | 8 | 9 | .471 | 0.5 | L2 |
| Denver | 6 | 9 | .400 | 1.5 | L1 |
| Minnesota | 4 | 10 | .286 | 3 | L3 |
