Anthony Davis has a historic night

Last night, Anthony Davis had himself a basketball game. In a 111-106 win over the Detroit Pistons, Davis cobbled together 59 points and 20 rebounds. Total rebounds are only available in searchable box scores from the season 1983-84 on, but over the time period there have been only two other +50 point/+20 rebound regular season games — Shaquille O’Neal on March 6, 2000, and Chris Webber on January 5, 2001. Suffice it to say it’s among the most rare single-game statistical accomplishments.

It’s also interesting to look at where Davis’ performance sits among the constellation of great single-game performances. The interactive graph below shows the 500 top individual games since 1983-84 as ranked by Game Score, a very raw box-score based measure of single game production. Each game is plotted by total points and total rebounds.

There are plenty of other incredible performances, some of which fall just short of the 50/20 benchmarks. Karl Malone’s 61 points and 18 rebounds, or Michael Jordan’s 69 points and 18 rebounds, for example. But Davis’ truly sets on the outer boundary of what we’ve seen before. Even among this hyper-elite data set of games, his point total ranks in the 96th percentile, his rebound total in the 95th.

This game will almost certainly be the high point of Davis’ season. The Pelicans have struggled mightily this year, battling through injuries and a disjointed effort on the floor. Davis himself has fallen off somewhat from last season. Still, a historic performance like this could build some momentum for both him and the team as they look to close out the season, putting a shine on what has otherwise been a disappointing campaign.