Anthony Davis’ all-time Opening Night performance
Last night, Anthony Davis had not only the best game of his career — he may have even had the best opening night performance of all-time. The 23-year-old New Orleans Pelicans superstar, he of near-unlimited potential showed all that and then some last night unleashing his fury on the Denver Nuggets to the tune of 50 points on 34 shots, 16 rebounds, seven steals, five assists and four blocks.
Davis became only the fourth player in NBA history to score 50 points in a season-opening game, joining legends Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan.
The rarity of Davis’ performance comes not from the raw total of points — the 12th 50-point game since the beginning of last season — but rather what Davis was able to do in other aspects of the game, coming a mere block away from the elusive 5-5-5-5-5.
Davis is also the only player since 1983-84 to notch 50+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ steals in a single game.
Using Basketball-Reference’s Play Index tool and the GameScore metric, Davis explosion last night ranks as the second best opening game since 1983-84.
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | GmSc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Jordan | 1989-11-03 | CHI | W | 14 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 54 | 51.2 |
| 2 | Anthony Davis | 2016-10-26 | NOP | L | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 50 | 46.5 |
| 3 | Charles Barkley | 1992-11-07 | PHO | W | 21 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 44.0 |
| 4 | Kiki Vandeweghe | 1984-10-27 | POR | W | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 39.1 |
| 5 | Dale Ellis | 1988-11-04 | SEA | W | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 46 | 38.9 |
| 6 | Michael Jordan | 1986-11-01 | CHI | W | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 50 | 37.5 |
| 7 | Adrian Dantley | 1983-10-28 | UTA | L | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 37.2 |
| 8 | Monta Ellis | 2010-10-27 | GSW | W | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 36.9 |
| 9 | Nick Anderson | 1992-11-06 | ORL | W | 8 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 42 | 35.6 |
| 10 | Karl Malone | 1989-11-03 | UTA | W | 16 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 35.6 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
The list of names surrounding Davis span all-time legends — Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Karl Malone — to lesser known but productive players of yesteryear including then-Portland Trail Blazers SF Kiki Vandeweghe, Utah Jazz volume scorer Adrian Dantley and current Indiana Pacers guard Monta Ellis.
Seeing history is always nice, but does this tell us anything about the remainder of the season for Anthony Davis or the New Orleans Pelicans?
For many of the men listed in the graph above, an all-time great performance on opening night was just the preview for bigger things to come. Jordan parlayed his all-time record opening night (54 points, 14 rebounds, 51.2 GameScore) into a third-place MVP finish and an Eastern Conference Finals birth for his budding Chicago Bulls dynasty.
Of course, Chicago lost in seven games to the Detroit Pistons, but this was just the beginning of what would become the team of the 1990s. Barkley, third all-time in opening night GameScore, used his game one momentum to become league’s Most Valuable Player and lead his Phoenix Suns team to the NBA Finals, which they lost in dramatic fashion to Jordan’s Bulls.
Unlike those two, though, Davis’ New Orleans Pelicans lost. Or, as PelicanDebrief’s Brendon Kleen would put it: the New Orleans Pelicans failed Anthony Davis last night.
Only Adrian Dantley of the 1983-1984 Utah Jazz ranked Top 10 in opening night GameScore and still saw his team lose. On the bright side, Dantley’s Jazz won 45 games that season and made it all the way to the Western Conference Semifinals, a scenario that would certainly be welcomed for the long-suffering New Orleans fanbase.
If you want to learn more about NBA or professional basketball history, check out my podcast the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, now hosted on The Step Back: