On Tuesday night, Los Angeles Lakers’ six-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis delivered what the organization and fans hope is the first of many big nights while he dawns the color of “Purple and Gold,” which he accomplished while not being at 100 percent physically.
Despite his shooting shoulder being very sore, Davis delivered a historic performance of 40 points and 20 rebounds in just 31 minutes in the Lakers (3-1) 120-91 blowout win versus the Memphis Grizzlies (1-3) on Tuesday night at Staples Center. While he shot just 7 for 17 from the field, the 26-year-old five-time All-NBA selection set a new franchise record going 26 for 27 from the free throw, including setting a new league mark for foul shots made in a period going 18 for 18 from the charity stripe in the third quarter, bypassing the old mark held by his teammate in eight-time All-Star Dwight Howard, who shot 25 for 39 from the charity stripe in the Lakers 106-97 win at his old team the Orlando Magic on Mar. 12, 2013, where Howard tied his own NBA record for free throws attempted, which he set on Jan. 12, 2012 at the Golden State Warriors.
Of the last five occasions that a player has registered 40-plus points and 20-plus rebounds in a game in recent NBA history, two of those belong to Davis, who had 46 points and 21 rebounds in helping his former team the New Orleans Pelicans to a 125-122 win at the Charlotte Hornets on Mar. 11, 2017. Two-time All-Star center for the Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid registered 40 points and 21 rebounds in a 113-101 loss versus the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 14, 2018. Davis’ current teammate in All-Star big man DeMarcus Cousins had 44 points and 23 rebounds as a member of the Pelicans in their 132-128 double-overtime win versus the Chicago Bulls. Two-time All-Star center for the Minnesota Timberwolves Karl-Anthony Towns had 40 points with 21 boards in the team’s 110-109 loss versus the Lakers on Apr. 9, 2017.
“It’s good,” Davis said after his historic performance to NBATV’s Dennis Scott about his shoulder. “It bothered me a little bit in the game but, you know, I wanna play. I wanna play basketball. Just try to play through it and get the win.”
The 26 free throws made by Davis were tied for the fourth most in a single game in NBA history, and put him in company of Hall of Famers and NBA champions Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlin, and Adrian Dantley as the only players to connect on more than 25 free throws in a game.
“I wasn’t able to, you know, shoot well from the field. But I got to do the little to help my team win and you know, just try to go, and get offensive rebounds and get to the [foul] line,” Davis said to Scott.
“You know, any time I’m able to get to the line I get going a little bit and, you know, I was able to get to the line and make some free throws tonight.”
Davis also became the first Laker to have a 40-point, 20-rebound performance since Hall of Famer and current NBATV/NBA on TNT studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal had 61 points and 23 rebounds in a win against the Los Angeles Clippers in 2000 and 48 points and 20 boards in a game in 2003. Fellow Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did it twice in November and December of 1975 and the late great Wilt Chamberlin accomplished this as well in Jan. 1971.
Davis became the first player in league history to register 40-20 in under 32 minutes, since minutes began being tracked in the 1951-52 season, edging out Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, who did it in 33 minutes during the 1960-61 season and Philadelphia 76ers two-time All-Star center Joel Embiid did it in 34 minutes in a game a season ago. Davis also joined O’Neal and fellow Hall of Famer in “The Captain” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the three Lakers to post 100 points, 10 blocks and 10 assists through their first four games with the 16-time champions since blocks became an official stat in the 1973-74 NBA campaign.
“It’s an honor. Great company,” Davis, who had two block shots against the Grizzlies said after the Lakers third straight win. “To be here, part of this franchise, and do something special like that and be on that list with those legends means a lot to me. But what’s more important, I’m happy that we got the win. It was a grind in that first half and my teammates trusted me and told me to get going. That’s what I tried to do.”
To put into context how big of a night this was for Davis in helping the Lakers to a victory in a game where they trailed by 13 points in the opening stanza, he equaled the Grizzlies scoring total in the third period 20-20.
This great performance almost did not have the opportunity to take place because Davis jammed his shoulder after a failed dunk attempt in the Lakers’ 120-101 win versus the Charlotte Hornets (2-3) on Sunday night.
After the game, Davis said to the media that “nothing wrong” with his right shoulder, but a league source told ESPN’s Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin that Davis experienced tightness the following days in that shoulder.
Davis did not speak to the press about his shoulder until after the victory versus the Grizzlies, as he broke the league’s media access rules by declining to talk both at the team’s shootaround and pregame availabilities early on Tuesday.
The three-time NBA All-Defensive selection, whose shoulder issue was not listed on the team’s official injury report was cleared by the Lakers medical staff to play on Tuesday night, which he did very well.
“I thought all night was that there was a chance that we could have to play the game without him, so we were prepared to do so,” Lakers first-year head coach Frank Vogel said.
Four-time Kia MVP and three-time Finals MVP LeBron James concurred saying after his 23-point, eight assist performance postgame, “He’s been doing everything he can to get ready for tonight, and he did that, and obviously nowhere near 100 percent. You have a performance like that, it’s pretty cool.”
The fact that Davis played was a major step for him because he missed on average 17 games in the first four seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, who drafted him No. 1 overall in 2012 out of the University of Kentucky, which created a reputation that he is injury prone.
He has managed to put that in theory to rest playing in 75 games in what would be his last two seasons with the Pelicans, but his 2018-19 campaign was cut shore at the near end because of his failed trade request to the Lakers last February. Davis has said though he is aware of the perception that he is injury prone and his hoping to change that narrative.
What Anthony Davis did on Tuesday scoring 40 points, with 20 rebounds and two block shots on 26 for 27 from the charity stripe in 31 minutes with a sore right shoulder was incredible. What was more impressive was how he wanted to prove to the naysayers that he is not injury prone and that what he has done playing 75 games the last two seasons is something that he plans to make routine, which is
“Obviously I have a list of [injuries] and I just try to play, fight through them, and do what I’ve got to do to help the team,” the Chicago, IL native said on Tuesday night. “I’m here to be one of the leaders of the team, and it’s tough for me to do that on the sideline.”
Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 10/30/19 2:30 a.m. edition NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by Kia with Kristen Ledlow, Isiah Thomas, and Candace Parker; 10/30/19 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Dave McMenamin, and Richard Jefferson; 10/30/19 www.espn.com story, “Lakers’ Anthony Davis Posts 40 Points, 20 Rebounds in Win,” by Dave McMenamin; https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers; https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameid=401160696; http://www.espn.com/nba/standings; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Howard#Los_Angeles_Lakers_(2012-2013); https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Howard#Final_season_in_Orlando_(2011-2012); and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Davis.
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