Anthony Davis exploded for the game of the season with 59 points and 20 rebounds against the Detroit Pistons Sunday.
It was a thing of beauty, one of those special games. It started innocent, since a nice box score is nothing new for the 22-year-old Anthony Davis. But it turned into something else entirely as the game progressed. A slow build turned into a tsunami of scoring right quick and there was nothing the Detroit Pistons could do as the Brow washed them away down the stretch.
Davis dropped 59 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, dished out four assists and, most importantly, got the New Orleans Pelicans a win. But that stat line doesn’t do the game justice; Davis dominated. He has the NBA’s only 40-point, 15-rebound performance this season and he did it in three quarters.
Davis is only the third player in the last 20 years to drop 50 or more points and 20 or more rebounds in the same contest. He joins Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Webber in an elite club most players can only dream of. The game Davis just had may be the most impressive of the three, given he is only 22. O’Neal was 28, Webber was 27.
Davis also did it on a higher percentage shooting. Davis shot 71 percent, O’Neal 69 percent and Webber did it on 51 percent shooting. Truly, though it was only a regular season game, this one will be remembered for years to come.
Here are some of the stats and reactions to Davis’s monster outing.
Anthony Davis joins Shaquille O'Neal as the only players in the last 40 seasons with 55 points and 20 rebounds pic.twitter.com/eVhJTfDefs
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 21, 2016
I’d like to remind you he’s only 22. A performance only seen twice in 40 years, and he’s only 22…
Anthony Davis is the 2nd youngest player with 50 Points & 20 Rebounds in a single game in NBA History. pic.twitter.com/oflwy8wTmP
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 21, 2016
Oh boy, now we’re travelling back.
Thunder owe a thank you to Anthony Davis for flirting with a 60-20 and sending out a small distraction from whatever is happening in OKC.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 21, 2016
Anthony Slater is right: The Thunder got pummelled, but hey, it’s not the main story of the day.
Anthony Davis has 40 points after 3 quarters of play, and only 3 of them have come from the free throw line.
— Mason Ginsberg (@MasonGinsberg) February 21, 2016
In fact, Davis only took 10 free throw attempts the entire game, of which he made nine. O’Neal took 22 free throw attempts back in 2000, hitting 13, which is actually a good showing from the charity stripe from O’Neal.
Anthony Davis: 55 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists.
— Dan Feldman (@DanFeldmanNBA) February 21, 2016
Nobody has done that in the @bball_ref era (since 1983-84)
There really isn’t a lot to say, as injuries are the only thing holding the Brow back. Davis is now averaging 24.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, and this is a year where both he and the Pelicans have struggled to stay healthy.
Anthony Davis had more points and rebounds today than Lebron and Kevin Love combined.
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) February 21, 2016
Adding to this, Davis actually had more points on the day than Kevin Love and LeBron James, as well as more points and rebounds than Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
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Congratulations Mr. Davis. The Pelicans are now 2-0 post All-Star break and with the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies both getting presumably worse at the deadline, well, there’s a whole lot of season left.
It wasn’t 81, but it was one of the best individual games we’ve seen in the decade since.