COURT SIDE
Anthony Davis enters MVP race instead of sinking in New Orleans without Cousins ... LeBron rips ‘corrupt’ NCAA ... Powell a bright spot in Big D ... Dirk doesn’t want to tank
The New Orleans Pelicans were supposed to be dead in the water after losing all-star starter DeMarcus Cousins for the season.
Anthony Davis wasn’t interested in that narrative. Instead, the ‘other’ superstar big man in the bayou has gone on one of the biggest tears in NBA history. Hyperbole? Nope.
Last Friday, Davis went off for 42 points, 15 rebounds and four steals. Three days later, he topped himself with 53, 18 and five blocked shots, just the second time a player has posted those numbers since 1973 (ex-Buffalo Braves star Bob
McAdoo is the other).
In the 12 games since Cousins went down, Davis has averaged 33.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 2.4 steals per game. New Orleans has won six straight games, climbing within spitting distance of a potential home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Houston’s James Harden has the MVP award all but wrapped up, but Davis is putting himself in the mix, and if Harden and Chris
Paul and Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry split votes as dominant teammates, he might do better than expected. Davis ranks second in scoring, blocked shots, player efficiency rating, third in win shares and seventh in rebounding.
Davis could have given up and pondered which team he would end up with in the second act of his career after Cousins was lost. It looked like things might go that way when the Pelicans dropped five of six in the aftermath of the crushing blow.
Instead, he has shown why he might be the second-best talent in the world, behind only LeBron James.
“He’s definitely overlooked (in the MVP race)," teammate Jrue Holiday told nola. com after the latest video game-like performance.
“If you’re not in that top three in the West, you’re not really talked about like that. But look at his numbers, they’re something else.”
Davis picked on Phoenix so much on Monday, getting to the free-throw line 26 times, that the Suns didn’t have any players taller than 6-foot-8 left to put on the court for the final 4:48 of the game.
"He’s been killing y’all. All your bigs are on the bench,’” Holiday told an incredulous Josh Jackson once Davis hit the 50-point mark.
The Pelicans’ social media staff deserves credit for dunking all over loudmouth provocateur Skip Bayless during this Davis run. Bayless inexplicably called Davis the most overrated player in basketball about a week ago. The Twitter response since has been almost as one-sided as Davis’ toying with opponents.
LEBRON TALKS NCAA
Unlike many sporting superstars, James is not afraid to give his opinion and he didn’t mince words when talking about the mess that is college basketball in the U.S. at the moment.
“I don’t know if there’s any fixing the NCAA,” James told reporters. “I don’t think there is. It’s what’s been going on for many, many, many, many years. I don’t know how you can fix it. I don’t see how you can fix it.”
James didn’t stop there, calling the NCAA corrupt and laughing when asked about the things he and his mom were offered when he was one of the biggest recruits in history, before heading straight to the NBA.
“Obviously, I’ve never been a part of it, so I don’t know all the ins and outs about it. I do know what five-star athletes bring to a campus, both in basketball and football. I know how much these college coaches get paid. I know how much these colleges are gaining off these kids,” James said.
“I’ve always heard the narrative that they get a free education, but you guys are not bringing me on campus to get an education, you guys are bringing me on it to help you get to a Final Four or to a national championship, so it’s just a weird thing.”
Credit to James for telling it like it is.
POWELL THRIVING
Not all is bad in Dallas, despite last week’s mess involving a beat writer who was kept on despite domestic violence charges and an allegedly lecherous team president. Toronto’s Dwight Powell, a former star at Stanford, has emerged as a bright spot. Powell’s averaged 13.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in nine games this month. He has shot 59% from the field, 33% from beyond the three-point arc and 86% at the free-throw line. He has shot 64% in six starts, averaging 9.7 rebounds.
To his credit, Powell refused to get carried away while being praised by reporters this week, pointing out the team’s terrible record and insinuating that he can’t be “thriving” if the team isn’t winning often.
Still, Dallas had long had far better +/- numbers with Powell on the floor compared to when he was off and his production in extended minutes indicates that Canada has another impact NBAer.
Powell is a proven outside shooter dating back to his NCAA days, but, as pointed out by mavsmoneyball.com, Powell’s 74% shooting in the restricted area, sixth-best in the league among players with at least 100 attempts down there.
AROUND THE RIM
Davis hasn’t been the only standout during this New Orleans run. Holiday has averaged 25.3 points and 8.3 assists during the sixgame winning streak ... Ben
Simmons is a triple-double away from matching
Magic Johnson with his seventh as a rookie, behind only
Oscar Robertson, who did it 26 times in his first season ... Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t want the Mavs to tank. “You don’t really want a culture here that’s just giving up and quitting and not playing hard,” Nowitzki said. “It just sets the wrong tone for the future. It’s important for our young guys to learn how to compete and to compete all the time, play hard.”