10 most impactful moments from the 2017-18 NBA season

7. MVP-level Anthony Davis

On Jan. 26, the New Orleans Pelicans were playing the Rockets at home. The Pelicans had gotten off to a decent start in the 2017-18 season with a 27-21 record through 48 games.

They would end up winning this matchup against Houston, but after the game, it suddenly felt like their chances at a deep playoff run were already gone.

Late in the fourth quarter, DeMarcus Cousins went down in serious pain, holding the area around his foot. Later, we would find out that he tore his Achilles and was out for the remainder of the season. For most teams, this would’ve meant it was time to call it quits on the season and start looking forward to next year. After all, not many teams can afford to lose a six-time All-Star who was averaging 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.

However, most teams don’t have Anthony Davis.

After the Cousins injury, Anthony Davis took his game to the next level. He basically went crazy on the entire NBA.

In Cousins’ absence, Davis averaged 30.2 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and 2.3 assists per game. Those are MVP numbers.

Those were just his regular season numbers, however. In the playoffs, Davis averaged 30.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.7 assists per game. Unless you’re LeBron James, your numbers typically will get a little worse in the playoffs (giving defenses a minimum of four games to get used to your best player will tend to do that), but the Brow continued his stellar level of play in the Pelicans’ four-game sweep over the Portland Trail Blazers and in their eventual five-game loss to the Warriors.