In his first game of the 2014-15 season, Anthony Davis somehow met the insane expectations placed upon him after a dominating performance at the FIBA World Cup in Brazil this summer following his ascendent 20 and 10 season with a banged up 2013-14 Pellies team. He almost had a triple-double…in blocks during New Orleans’ 101-84 opening game win over Orlando.
Davis’ nine blocks ties a career high, and he was getting everybody last night as the below video shows: Tobias Harris and rookie Elfrid Payton got snugged and Brow also had a gorgeous rejection on Nikola Vucevic — who tore up the place in the first quarter (5/6 from the field for 10 points and seven boards).
Davis finished with an exceptional line: 26 points (10/22), 17 rebounds, nine blocks, three steals and two dimes in a little over 36 minutes of action. Fellow frontcourt mate and summer addition, Omer Asik, also had a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds, plus another five blocks. The Pellies might still be a sieve along the perimeter, but they were a bulwark down low last night. Vuc had 17 points and 23 rebounds for Orlando, but after that 5-of-6 first quarter, he was just 2-of-9 from the field the rest of the way.
The craziest part of Ant’s performance against the Magic weren’t the final numbers, or how he got them within the natural flow of the game, but the realization he missed a lot of easy bunnies in the restricted area (he was just 8-of-16 up close) and could have put even bigger numbers.
It’s also just Davis’ first regular season game with Asik, but they seem to complement each other exceptionally well on both sides of the ball.
What do you think?
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