Anthony Davis was not going to beat the Golden State Warriors

Tuesday night was a very disappointing night for Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans. It was supposed to be the first big time showing for Anthony Davis on his way to a season worth of MVP consideration. While that goal still is not out of the question, Davis had a rough night highlighted by an 0-14 stretch over the middle of the game that ultimately did the Pelicans in.

The struggles have understandably led to plenty of discussions surrounding Davis and what it means going forward. While the game was clearly a concern, it does feel like a bit much is being made of things as Davis missed some shots that he normally makes and that would make his line look much better if the shots went down. There were some things that need to be watched going forward though, especially with some of the depth problems the Pelicans will be dealing with until Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans return to the lineup full-time.

It started on the first touch of the game, as Davis got the ball in the post and made a nice move, turning baseline into his shot. Unfortunately, once he got into his shot he ran into a big problem.

As you can see from the dots on the sheet, Davis is trying to make this shot while being defended by three players. While Stephen Curry is only there because Nate Robinson is doing Nate Robinson things, Harrison Barnes being in Davis’ way becomes a common theme throughout the night. The Warriors were fully willing to let Dante Cunningham beat them on Tuesday and it cost Davis clean looks.

The same type of thing happened later in the first quarter, when the Warriors refused to let Davis beat them on a pick-and-roll, a decision that ended up with an Eric Gordon turnover. Even if Davis caught the ball, there was nothing he was going to do with it. Stephen Curry has clearly ignored Ish Smith who has shown no real NBA ability to shoot a three-pointer.

That said it wasn’t all bad. Davis was able to get a few clean looks early on in the game that he typically hits. While neither shot went down, it was the type of opportunity that Davis has converted plenty in the past and will plenty in the future. It just so happened that on Tuesday they didn’t fall.

On this early floater Davis blew past Green on the perimeter and ended up getting a floater that no one on this earth can defend. It just didn’t fall. The same type of thing happened on his second touch of the game, when Davis got isolated on Green with a ton of space and rose over him to shoot a jumper.

While Barnes is still ready to rotate over and defend any Davis drives, AD gets a shot he made with regularity last season. It just missed.

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