Anthony Davis played like a top 10 NBA player last season, and the Pelicans record reflected that. They held off the Thunder and Suns, made the playoffs, and very nearly won one of the four first-round games they played with the Warriors. (Yes, nearly winning a game against that team as an 8th seed is most certainly an accomplishment.) Unfortunately, this year the Pelicans haven’t been as good, and they almost certainly will be on the outside looking when the playoffs begin in two months, but it isn’t due to a lack of effort on Davis’s part. The former #1 pick is averaging 24 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, and continues to be one of the best–if not the best–centers in the game.
Today, he further proved that point, and dropped a whopping 59 points and grabbed 20 rebounds on the Detroit Pistons, who sport an elite center of their own in Andre Drummond, a 2016 NBA All-Star and the league leader in rebounds. You can watch a highlight reel of Davis’s game above, and consider the following. The only other player in the last 40 seasons to have a game like Davis just had? A guy named Shaquille O’Neal. You may have heard of him.
