New Orleans Pelicans: The Return Of Anthony Davis
By Tim Burke
New Orleans Pelicans: The Return of Anthony Davis
Who had the best game? Worst game?
The player who had the best game is very hard to choose. Jrue Holiday and Brandon Ingram had outstanding games for the New Orleans Pelicans. Holiday had 29 points, six rebounds, 12 assists, and three steals while playing point guard on offense and frequently guarding LeBron on defense.
Ingram had 23 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, and two blocks. This was the type of game that Ingram would go on to have numerous times this season. The case for each player is pretty easy to make just on stats alone.
One player whose stats aren’t a good representation of what they did was Alex Caruso. His two points, one rebound, two assists, one block, and one steal make it seem like he had a pedestrian game; but that misses the context of what he wasn’t credited with. He came up with a few huge deflections in the second half and played almost the entire fourth quarter.
You can’t forget about LeBron James though. His 29 points, 5 rebounds, and 11 assists underscore his impact on the game. James was content to let Davis lead the team in points and attempts through three quarters, but when it came time to win LeBron took over; scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter alone (New Orleans scored 21 as a team).
However, the player who had the best game was Anthony Davis. It hurts me to give him this award but his 41 points, nine rebounds, one assist, three steals, and one block were too strong. This was probably the most hostile crowd he’s ever played in front of and he more than showed up.
The player with the worst game was Jahlil Okafor. While I’m not happy about giving this to him, this was a game where he could have shown that he could be a key part of the rotation. Instead, he picked up his fourth personal foul early in the second quarter, while Jaxson Hayes was waiting at the table to sub him out.
He didn’t play any of the fourth quarter with the Pelicans choosing to play small with Kenrich Williams and Brandon Ingram next to three guards or Jaxson Hayes at center.