NBA: Davis at the Pelicans: Escalation with Westbrook mentality

Anthony Davis gave the New Orleans Pelicans a winning streak with extraterrestrial performances. After the violation of DeMarcus’s cousins, the Pels were written off before the brow switched to Westbrook mode.

The word “force of nature”is often used when the potential of Anthony Davis is discussed. The problem: For too long it has remained at this very potential, while its actual performance has too often been subject to fluctuations.

At the moment, however, even the biggest critics with open mouths are looking at what AD in top form is capable of. With meanwhile eight victories in a row and a record of 36-26, his cars are in fourth place at the Western Conference and have the best chance of a home advantage in the first playoff round.

In the process, NOLA was already written off by many of DeMarcus cousins after the Achilles tendon tear. The season is over, it was said (yes, also here on SPOX), a playoff run with Davis as a solo entertainer seemed pointless in the strong west. It’s easy to be wrong.

With partly extraterrestrial performances AD made the youngest, unexpected run possible. His numbers during the eight games read like the stats in NBA 2K’s MyCareer mode on the Rookie difficulty level: 37.3 points, 15 rebounds, 53 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from the three-line, plus 3 steals and 2.8 blocks with only 2.1 ball losses.

Davis achieved something that only Shaq did before, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob McAdoo – “That’s just phenomenal,” summarized Pels-Center Emeka Okafor Davis’ recent performances,”I think everything that can be said about him has already been said.

AD handles almost all tasks on the court, offensively and defensively. In his performance against the Suns he met Rainbow Jumpers, step-back-fadeaways, lots of Alley-oop-Dunks and Putbacks as well as Floaters and Korbleger after his numerous Drives. On top of that, he went 26 times to the free-throw line, 21 attempts of which slipped through the Reuse. In addition, there were 18 rebounds – 8 (!) of them offensive.

Now you can notice that it was only the Suns as opponents. But unlike some other players, the boys from Arizona did everything they could to win, often replacing the defenders against AD. Only Dragan Bender and Alex Len were too slow for AD, T. J. Warren was too small and Marquese Chriss too slender and too green behind the ears. A side result: All but Warren were played by Davis. I don’t think there’s ever been.

But it would be a fallacy to claim that Davis isolates himself from the rest of Pels-Offense. The opposite is the case: In case of doubt, he does not hesitate to adapt the spalding or to act away from the ball. Against Phoenix he was so well integrated and supple that Devin Booker from the opponents on the floor said to Jrue Holiday:”Like, Devin Booker has already scored over 50 points?” On top of that Holiday:”Yes, he kills you and you don’t even know it.”

Davis himself draws on a comparison with the current MVP to describe his alien status,”I’ve acquired a Westbrook mentality,”he explained. Since then he has been doing everything that is necessary for his team, even if it means having to take 40 throws per game,”he says.

Like Westbrook’s play without KD, Davis’ play without cousins has also changed greatly – or rather, it has come back to the times before cousins. The 24-year-old gets many more touches in the center of the offense to create for himself.

The number of ball touches in the frontcourt has risen from 41.8 to 53.3 per game since the absence of boogie, and there was also a significant increase in the Elbow from 4.1 to 6.2. The number of his drives per evening has more than doubled (6.5 vs. 3.0). The fact that Nikola Mirotic brought additional Spacing with him to NOLA, as well as the top form of Jrue Holiday, which reminds of his former all-star form (25.9 points and 55 percent FG in the last 8 games) and AD successfully relieves him of the strain.

In defence, Davis is now more often working as a classic defensive anchor and ring protector. Because if he and his cousins were on the field, it was this one who was assigned to the bigger and less mobile opponents, so Davis had to defend outside the zone more often. But there it is less efficient.

According to the statistic gurus of Nylon Calculus, the number of field throw attempts directly defended by Davis in the vicinity of the board has increased from 5.4 to 8.5, with the opponent’s quota in this area falling from 55.7 percent to 49.5.

Now the question remains how long Davis can preserve his overform. In the wild playoff race, only a short phase of weakness can be enough to get through to the back and the pels still have the most back-to-back games of the eight teams hitting the warriors and rockets behind the six spots. There are also some direct duels ahead – against the Blazers, Thunder, Spurs and Clippers.

If AD succeeds in actually hoisting his team into the playoffs after the cousins shock, he would be a legitimate MVP candidate, albeit only with the underdog in the shadow of James Harden. After all, Davis was already well before his current escalation, but he took a back seat for cousins – with whom he has built up an excellent chemistry.

Asked if he would like to follow the MVP race discussions, Davis had a very short answer:”I don’t even know who’s taking part in this race”, which doesn’t necessarily sound like a Westbrook mentality.