By: Takudzwa Makoni
In his first game back from injury, early-season Most Valuable Player candidate Anthony Davis scored 31 points and pulled down nine boards, with all three of his blocks coming in the first five minutes of the game. The Davis show included a dominant fourth quarter showing, to lead the New Orleans Pelicans past the Utah Jazz for a 119- 111 win.
The Pelicans had lost both games they had played without Davis and where determined to get the maximum return on his presence.
Davis again led a mediocre Pelicans roster in almost all statistical categories, showing once again that comparisons to former greats such as Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon are warranted. Davis, not even old enough to walk into a bar yet, will undoubtedly help shape the NBA landscape for the next decade or two, but tonight he was ably assisted by Tyreke Evan’s 19 points and Ryan Anderson’s twenty eight, eighteen of which came from behind the arc, burnishing Anderson’s reputation as one of the premiere stretch forwards in the game.
Enes Kanter led the Jazz in scoring with 29, and Hayward and Burke added 17 points and 16 points respectively in another losing effort for the moribund Jazz, who had hyped this season as one for a definitive step forward for the franchise. They have lost 12 of their last 13 games.