Wednesday NBA Roundup: Anthony Davis’ Big Night Reminds Us What He’s Capable Of

With a historically unprecedented opening-night eruption, Anthony Davis bellowed at the fickle basketball world that had forgotten him.

In the New Orleans Pelicans’ 107-102 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Davis did everything imaginable to reestablish his status as the game’s best young talent—a status he’d lost following a disappointing 2015-16 campaign.

He scored 50 points, snared 16 rebounds, gifted five assists, swatted four shots and swiped seven steals.

That has never happened before:

AD tonight: 50 pts, 16 rebs, 5 asts, 7 stls & 4 blocks pic.twitter.com/hqWhMVd3pk

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 27, 2016

Davis was ultra aggressive, taking 34 of his team’s 92 shots. No other Pelicans player connected on more than six field goals, while Davis made 17.

He moved freely, showing no sign of the preseason ankle injury that, for a while, put his opening-night status in doubt. Working for space off the dribble, finishing at the rim, connecting on difficult in-between flips through contact—AD displayed everything, from everywhere, offensively.

So dominant and so clear was Davis’ scoring mentality, point guard Tim Frazier quickly developed tunnel vision, searching for AD whenever possible.

Frazier, pressed into duty by Jrue Holiday’s absence, had 11 assists on the night.

Defensively, Davis’ length and quickness were all the way back. Though he made a few positional mistakes, the lapses in attention and sporadic effort that contributed to a major step backward last year were gone. Davis was locked in, aggressive and committed on both ends.

Yet we’re here talking about a loss and, more dispiritingly, a possibly season-defining trend, as Scott Kushner of the Advocate observed:

That was basically every criticism everyone has ever had about this team wrapped up in one 48 minute package. AD does it all, gets no help

— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) October 27, 2016

All that statistical brilliance didn’t amount to anything because the Pelicans are too injured (again), too invested in talent that can’t help AD (as always) and too painfully lodged in a half-rebuild that shows no sign of producing a second star.

The lottery pick, Buddy Hield, had four points in 17 minutes. The biggest free-agent acquisition, Solomon Hill, had two points in 27 minutes.

And this loss didn’t come against the San Antonio Spurs or Golden State Warriors or Cleveland Cavaliers. This loss came at home against the Nuggets—an up-and-comer, sure, but still a team that’ll be lucky to reach .500.

So while it’s fair to expect slightly better efforts from the supporting cast, it’s difficult to project different results when the competition improves.

Finally, let’s get back to those 41 minutes Davis played. They’re important.

Because if this is what it takes for New Orleans to be competitive against middling opposition—Davis lugging a weighty load while cutting previously untraveled swaths through the NBA’s statistical frontier—how quickly could this go south?

Davis hasn’t played more than 68 games in any season, so pushing him like this (even if he’s the one doing the pushing) feels like a recipe for the only thing worse than disappointing losses: another injury.

New Orleans should have tanked last year when a dreadful start foreclosed playoff hopes by December. It should have gunned for better lottery odds and a shot at the sidekick Davis needs. But it didn’t, and now Davis is a year older (and seemingly better), with even less help than before.

What we saw Wednesday was the clearest evidence yet that Davis is in the midst of a truly breathtaking prime—one the Pelicans seem hellbent on wasting.

Indiana Is Different, But Is It Better?

The Indiana Pacers’ rebranding is off to an exciting start, but if Wednesday’s 130-121 overtime win against the Dallas Mavericks is any indication, changes in style may not lead to changes in result.

Myles Turner verified the breakout buzz with 30 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. His jumper and the spacing it created will be major assets to Indiana’s offense all season. Dallas’ bigs were reluctant to chase him on the perimeter, and he punished them for it.

Paul George, who scored 25 points and handed out six assists, took advantage of the breathing room with timely cuts like this:

Share Tweet Embed

For the old Pacers, who plodded and defended and used two bigs frequently, opportunities like that one were hard to come by. Now, with Turner and Thaddeus Young up front, Indiana will get buckets in a wide-open attack.

The defense is gone, though, and its absence was the reason a Mavs team most have pegged for the lottery managed to make a game of it. Dallas flung up 48 three-point shots, the vast majority of which were quality looks. If a few more of those go down, this is a very different story.

For now, Indiana is a whole lot more fun to watch, and Turner looks like a developing star. The jury’s still out on whether this new …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com