Anthony Davis says the Pelicans could have been in the Finals if Cousins was never hurt

The New Orleans Pelicans were hitting their stride with DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. They were playing so well in fact that Davis says they could have made the Finals.

The Western Conference is absolutely stacked and everyone knows it. With teams like the Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves there are no easy outs.

The New Orleans Pelicans had two of the best bigs in basketball, and held on to the sixth seed until DeMarcus Cousins went down on Jan. 26 with a ruptured Achilles. Since that time the Pelicans are 4-5, and currently hold the eight seed in the Western Confernce. The injury was devastating without question, but Davis says that if Cousins hadn’t have suffered that injury they would have made the NBA Finals.

"“We could have gone through the playoffs. No one could really stop us as bigs. We go to the Finals if we went,” Davis told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols in an interview over All-Star weekend."

That’s a bold statement for a guy who’s never made it out of the first round of the playoffs. At the same time he might have been on to something. DeMarcus Cousins is the best center in basketball, and Davis is an MVP candidate once again. How many teams have multiple guys that can slow down both of them?

The answer is no one.

You might have a center that can brawl with Boogie in the paint, but that leaves Davis to take advantage. Or, you might have someone that can go out and guard Davis, but then you don’t have any muscle to cover Cousins.

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Cousins and Davis were on pace to become the first teammates ever to average 25 points and 10 rebounds a night. What they were doing had never been done before, and their teammate Rajon Rondo made sure they knew that. He would remind them that they were the two best bigs in basketball, and that since he knew what it took to win a title they would be alright.

I’m not sure if the Pelicans would have actually won the title this year, but they weren’t going to be an easy out.