Rockets vs. Pelicans: Davis Outscores Harden, Wants New Orleans To Remain Unbeatable

Anthony Davis showed again why he is among the favorites to win the 2018-19 NBA regular season MVP award with a dominating performance during the New Orleans Pelicans’ 131-112 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

The Pelicans power forward came up against last season’s MVP James Harden in their opening game of the new campaign — and the Rockets are expected to be one of the main contenders to challenge the Golden State Warriors’ dominance of the Western Conference.

But it was Davis who stole the show as he just missed on a triple double after recording 32 points, 16 rebounds and a career-best eight assists to lead his team to a dominant victory. The forward, however, was modest when asked how it felt to outscore last season’s high scorer in what was a statement-making win over last season Western Conference finalists.

“I’m taking what the defence gives me,” Davis said after the win on Wednesday, as quoted by the Express. “I’m just going to go out there and have fun.”

“That’s all I do and the other stuff will come later,” the Pelicans power forward added. “It’s only Game 1, so we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

It was an all-round performance from the Pelicans on opening day with new boys Julius Randle and Nikola Mirotic also playing a key role in the victory. The former contributed with 25 points and eight rebounds, while the latter hit 30 points and 10 rebounds.

And Davis was impressed with the team’s performance on the night and believes they will be difficult to beat if they continue to play like they did against the Rockets.

“Tonight we did a great job in imposing our will on the defense end,” Davis said praising the team. “We made the most of our opportunities.”

“We took the rebounds when they came,” the MVP contender explained. “If we continue to play like this, we will be tough to beat.”

Davis seems to be living up to his pre-season promise when he said he is ready to be “great” every night. The Pelicans power forward wants to be contending for the major honors every season, similar to how LeBron James, despite not being part of the best team at times, has managed to play in the NBA Finals for eight consecutive years.

“When you look at LeBron [James], every year you know he’s going to be great and his team is going to have a chance to win the title,” Davis said, as quoted on Slam Online. “From here on out, I want to be in that conversation every year. Not every other year. Not every few years. Every year. If that’s going to happen, we’re going to have to win, and I’m going to have to be the most dominant player.”