There was one game that Los Angeles Lakers’ perennial All-Star Anthony Davis new he had to be at his best. The first game against the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2012 and who he demanded to be traded from last season. He was booed throughout the game but would have the last laugh as he had a game for the history books.
Those boos did very little to distract Davis, a six-time All-Star as he went for a season-high 41 points on 15 for 30 from the field and 10 for 12 from the free throw line with nine rebounds and three steals in leading the Lakers (17-2) to a 114-110 win at the New Orleans Pelicans (6-13) for their ninth straight victory on Wednesday night, tied for their longest winning streak in last 10 seasons.
Davis, who spent seven seasons with the Pelicans capped off his stellar performance by intercepting All-Star guard Jrue Holiday’s inbounds pass in the final five seconds remaining and connected on a pair of free throws that sealed the win.
“Man, it feels good,” Davis said to ESPN’s Jorge Sedano after the victory. “I’m glad we got the win.”
“They (Pelicans) was on it the whole game, you know. They made shot after shot, big shots. They’re a great team. A young who plays hard, plays together, and likes to run. And they was shooting lights out and they gave us a run for our money and we just a resilient team. We showed our resiliency tonight and was able to bounce back and get the win.”
The Lakers needed every bit of what Davis gave them at the offensive end on Wednesday night because the Pelicans as he mentioned were at the top of their from the opening tip as they hit a franchise record nine three-pointers in the first quarter as they led after the opening period 38-25 and trailed 64-54 at intermission.
The Lakers used a 9-0 scoring run to start the fourth period led by four-time Kia MVP LeBron James who had 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to go along with 11 assists and five rebounds on 10 for 18 shooting and reserve forward Kyle Kuzma chipped in with 16 points, hitting two key triples in the final period as the Lakers outscored the Pelicans 35-21 in the fourth quarter.
If there is anyone who understands the situation that Davis went through on this night in returning to a team that once loved you and at that moment despises you for leaving is LeBron James who went through far worse in his first game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Dec. 2, 2010, where he was not only booed but simply got hatred like nothing seen before. James, who sat out the fourth quarter scored 38 points in leading the Heat to a blowout win on 15 for 25 shooting.
“It’s the only reason I’m here. The only reason I came to New Orleans” James, who had his eight 25-point, 10-assist game so far this season, second only to the nine by Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks said after the win.
“Anytime you can go back to a place where you made a mark and you started your career. You’ve played significant minutes and gave a lot to the community and gave a lot to the franchise you want to come back and play well, and you want to win because at the end of the day that’s what its all about. So, we knew that as his brothers and we want to try and fulfill that goal that he had set.”
In achieving that goal, Davis, according to the Elias Sports Bureau set a new NBA record for most points in first game versus his former team, amongst active players with those 41 points. The previous mark was 39 held by current Brooklyn Net in 2014 Kia MVP and two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who scored that in his first game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 3, 2016. Durant had been tied with former All-Star guard and then New Jersey Net Stephon Marbury and current general manager of the Boston Celtics Danny then of the Sacramento Kings each scored 39 points in their first game against their former teams in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Celtics in 2000 and 1989 respectively.
Davis achieved this performance as mentioned as he was constantly booed from the moment he took the court from warmups by the fans who packed the Smoothie King Center to every time he touched the ball during the game.
He was very loose during warmups as he shared a happy moment with his former teammate in Holiday, who had 29 points and 12 assists on 12 for 23 shooting, including 4 for 6 from three-point range in the Pelicans third consecutive loss.
That said, according to Marc J. Spears, Senior Writer for ESPN’s “The Undefeated” Davis was what he called “nervous, nervous” to where he was wrapping out loud on the team bus heading to the arena. He also had a lot of extra security, according to Spears.
That looseness along with Lakers head coach Frank Vogel telling him to just go out there and have fun, and how his teammates played in the comeback Davis said was a big help to him.
“They said in the timeout when we cut it to like four that we not losing this game,” Davis said to Sedano. “You know, all night they was making sure that we didn’t lose this game for return here. It was a hell of a night. You know I love these guys that I played with last year. They like to battle but overall this was a fun night.”
“Coming in, knowing what was going to happen with the boos, I just tried to play through it, calm my nerves and just play basketball. I know they passionate about their team and, you know, when everything went down last year it was tough for both sides. You know, oth sides moved on and both sides are happy.”
The reason for both sides being happy is when the trade between the Lakers and Pelicans was done over the summer, the Lakers acquired in Davis that second superstar to pair alongside James in their pursuit of that 17th championship in franchise history. The Pelicans got three young players in Brandon Ingram, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the loss, along with Lonzo Ball, who was out because of injury, Josh Hart, and draft picks as they try to build for the future.
That moment that Davis and Holiday shared before the game also carried after the game where the two exchanged their jerseys. Davis also payed a visit to the Pelicans locker room after the game, where at first, he was nervous about walking into the locker room to give a signed jersey to Holiday and to a security guard’s nephew. Before Davis walked into the locker room, according to Spears, Pelicans’ No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft Zion Williamson, who is still out recovering from knee surgery came and embraced Davis.
Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry during intermission shared an embrace with Davis and told him after the game to come to the locker room. Davis ask if all was going to be okay?
All was okay as Davis came into the Pelicans locker room and took some time to be around some people that were a big deal to him during his time in New Orleans.
Wednesday night’s contest between the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans was a big deal with the return of Anthony Davis to the place he called home for seven seasons.
The Pelicans faithful at the Smoothie King Center booed Davis throughout the game for wanting to be dealt to the Lakers and join forces with LeBron James in pursuit of a championship.
He responded with as mentioned 41 points and led the Lakers to their ninth straight win and improved to an NBA best 4-0 this season after trailing by 15 points or more, being the only team to be undefeated when facing that kind of deficit this season.
Davis also got a chance after the win to say hello to as mentioned some people that meant a lot to him like Holiday, who was his teammate for six years and who he still keeps in touch with.
“I love him. That’s my guy,” Davis said to Sedano about Holiday. “You know, six years together…He’s a guy who competes. He competed tonight. He made it tough for us. Anytime I get a chance to play against him now, it’s nothing but fun. He was guarding me, you know, I had to guard him.”
“It’s a brotherhood. You know, it’s bigger than basketball. And I know some people didn’t like it but me and him have a bond that, you know, that’s not just the game of basketball. It’s outside of it. We have a real friendship and it showed tonight.”
Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 11/27/19 9:30 p.m. “Los Angeles Lakers versus New Orleans Pelicans,” on ESPN, presented by State Farm with Mark Jones, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Jorge Sedano; 11/27/19 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. editions of ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” from Los Angeles, CA with Neil Everett and Stan Verrett; https://www.nba.com/games/20191127/LALNOP#/boxscore/recap; https://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/lal; and https://www.espn.com/nba/standings.
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