By Pat Costello
The chances of the New Orleans Pelicans beating the Golden State Warriors in any game in the playoffs are very slim, and yet they might have the most intriguing series that the NBA has to offer right now.
It’s a battle of the new school superstars, Steph Curry and Anthony Davis. We already know that Curry is a god walking amongst men, yet he wasn’t the best player in Game One. That honor goes to the phenomenal Anthony Davis.
Davis, at only 22 years old, established himself as one of the best players in the NBA this season, but not many people have taken notice due to the out-of-their-mind play of Curry, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
For Davis, this series is much more than his first playoff appearance of what could potentially be many. It serves as his foray into the national spotlight, where he gets to play the best team in the NBA. There is no bigger stage than the NBA playoffs, and Davis is primed and ready.
Nobody expected the Pelicans to even be a threat to the mighty Warriors. The Pels were supposed to show up, take their 30 point loss and smile for the cameras while being “just happy to be here.”
Unfortunately for the Warriors, nobody told Anthony Davis. Davis scored 35 points, had seven boards and four blocks and almost single-handedly pushed his team to victory. He came up huge in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points in an incredible late game push. Had the gap not been so big going into the fourth quarter (84-66 Warriors) then Davis would have been the Game One hero.
Tom Ziller of SB Nation perfectly summed up Davis’ awesome performance. “Consider his accomplishment on Sunday, even in a loss. Few teams have been able to stop the Warriors this season, and only two inside Oracle Arena. Yet he single-handedly made that megalith sweat. He forced Stephen Curry to get off the bench. He shushed the loudest crowd in the nation. He shut up Green (if only for a moment). He dared [to] step up to the greatest showmen in the NBA right now, and he had the most thrilling highlight,” referring to an incredible alley-oop in which Davis’s armpit was above the rim.
For most players on the worst playoff team, the first round is merely a chance to get their foot in the door and experience four games of playoff basketball. Anthony Davis kicked the door in and nearly did what nobody would have said he could: he beat the NBA’s best team.
As the rest of the series plays out, it will be fun to see how else Davis will torment his opponents. With a decent supporting cast that includes guards Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans, and big man Omer Asik, they might even have a chance to squeeze out a win.
So say hello to Anthony Davis, the NBA’s newest dominant big man, because he’s here, he’s good and he’s not going anywhere for a long time.
