Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images Lakers PF/C Anthony Davis returns to New Orleans for the first time since being traded in the offseason.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis was on another level Friday night against his former team, the New Orleans Pelicans. As ESPN revealed on their broadcast, Davis has been the only player to record 40 points and 10 rebounds through the first three-quarters of a game this season and has done so twice. The other time was on October 29, 2019.
Davis is averaging 27.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game through 32 games for the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Mark Jackson Compares Anthony Davis to Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss
At the 4:18 mark of the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans game on ESPN, Mark Jackson compared AD [Anthony Davis] to Minnesota Viking and Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss. After LeBron James through a full-court pass and Davis catches it in traffic and was fouled afterward by E’Twaun Moore.
“LeBron [James] is like that great quarterback that sees a little bit of daylight for that receiver and he trusts him. Anybody else, he throws it to it would be an interception, but he’s trusting Anthony Davis almost like Randy Moss. I know he is going to get or nobody will,” said Jackson.
If you are unfamiliar with Randy Moss, his a six-time NFL Pro Bowler, Moss, the 21st pick in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.
He went on to have a Hall of Fame career as he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 alongside Terrell Owens, Brian Dawkins, Ray Lewis, and Brian Urlacher to name a few.
As for Anthony Davis, he would finish the game against the Pelicans with 46 points, 13 rebounds, an assist and three steals in 38 minutes of play on Friday night. The Los Angeles Lakers would go on to beat the Pelicans 123- 113 and improve their record to 28-7, which is the best record in the Western Conference this season. It is also the best mark in the NBA only to the Milwaukee Bucks.
After the game against the Pelicans, Davis talked about his teammates forcing the ball into him during the first game in New Orleans.
“Even though we won the game [in New Orleans], I didn’t like playing that way where they were just forcing the ball,” Davis said, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I knew the situation, obviously, and my teammates wanted me to play well against my former team the first time.”
Davis teammate LeBron James said that he was the recipient of the flow of the offense during Friday night’s game in Los Angeles.
“He’s the recipient of our flow on offense because he’s just as fast as anybody on the floor, more dynamic than anybody that’s on the floor, does it better playing in the interior, playing in the exterior,” LeBron James said. “He can do so many things.”
The Lakers will play host to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at 9:00 p.m. EST.
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