Anthony Davis likes current NBA Playoff format
By Will Osgood
Anthony Davis, whose New Orleans Pelicans are locked in a fierce battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, likes the current playoff format.
Anthony Davis is no longer the favorite for NBA MVP as he was through one month of the 2014-15 NBA campaign. But he figures to finish no worse than fifth–behind the quadrant of Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James.
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He may receive a few more first-place votes if his New Orleans Pelicans can hang onto their current narrowest of narrow 1/2 game lead over Wesbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder for the final Western Conference playoff spot (slots one through seven are already filled).
Yet if the NBA simply offered playoff spots to the best 16 teams in the league, the Pelicans would be in no problem (as would the Thunder). But they currently do not, and AD–as he’s affectionately known in New Orleans and throughout basketball circles–is okay with that.
Speaking with ESPN’s Scoop Jackson, Davis explained his rationale:
"“I like the way it is [now] honestly. I get having the best 16 teams, but that’s the thing about having the conferences, especially the Western Conference, you have someone to play every night. I mean, even if they do change it, we’re going to go out there and play, regardless. But, like, with us, we’re fighting for this eight spot, that kinda forces everybody to be like, “OK, OKC loses, we can’t afford to lose” or “OKC won and we gotta win.” It gets people on edge. To me just having the top 16 teams takes away the underdog being in the playoffs. It makes it more competitive because you know that 8-seed fought to get in that spot. And now they are coming to try to kill that 1-seed. So I think they should keep it like it is.”"
Davis just turned 22 on March 11, but don’t mistake his youth for someone unfamiliar with the history of the game, or for someone who does not appreciate the opportunity to play in the NBA.
Still, Davis does not ultimately get a say in how the playoff formatting is worked out. If it ever changes, it will because commissioner Adam Silver and his office decide it is what’s best for the league (read between the lines: because it makes the league more cash).
Davis, though, is a fierce competitor, who this season has thrived in the Pelicans’ most dire circumstances.
Anthony Davis now:
— Adam Fromal (@fromal09) April 8, 2015
24.5 pt, 10.3 rb, 2.1 as, 1.5 st, 3.0 bk
Admiral's 3rd year, adjusted to 14-15:
22.5 pt, 11.8 rb, 2.6 as, 2.2 st, 4.4 bk
He is doing things that few players in the league have ever done. He has hit big shot after big shot for the Pelicans. Who can forget this one, a play that might end up the difference between the Pelicans and Thunder earning that eighth spot?
Beyond the ridiculous raw statistics Davis has put up this year, and even the adjusted per game averages, Davis is shooting over 60 percent in the last five minutes of either the fourth quarter or overtime for his Pelicans.
He is clutch. He is the main reason the Pelicans are even in the playoff hunt.
And he is quite alright with having to battle these last games just to get into his first playoffs in his third season in the league.