A complete history of Anthony Davis vs Domantas Sabonis

Reducing the NBA to individual one-on-one matchups is a tradition unlike any other. It was never just the Celtics versus the Warriors or Sixers. It was Wilt Chamberlain versus Bill Russell in a battle royale where only victory could prove their champion’s worth. It’s why Chamberlain could dominate the battle statistically, but be viewed as the loser, as Russell’s Celtics dominated in the win column. 

Flash forward more than 50 years, and little has changed. Star players are their team, and their reputations hang in the balance based on an outcome only partially within their control. It’s a silly and reductive exercise, but humans are silly and reductive creatures. Now, in the year 2024, we have the newest player vs player battleground — Domantas Sabonis versus Anthony Davis — but it has been anything but a fair fight. 

Domantas Sabonis vs. Anthony Davis

Domantas Sabonis has faced Anthony Davis 10 times in his career, and 10 times his team has emerged victorious. Regardless of team quality, the chances of going 10-0 against another team, let alone against a single player over many seasons, are incredibly slim. For example, the Boston Celtics have been the best team in the NBA over the past two seasons, and the Washington Wizards have been one of the worst. The two have faced off six times, and even the lowly Wizards managed to win a single game. 

Sabonis’ streak against Davis is the definition of a statistical anomaly. Going 10-0 against anyone, at any time, is, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a bit more to the rivalry than meets the eye. 

The beginning 

Unsurprisingly, the beginning of the Davis-Sabonis rivalry didn’t receive any attention because it wasn’t a rivalry. In their first four matchups, Sabonis, then a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, averaged only 18.25 minutes per game and was relatively poor in those games. 

Meanwhile, Davis, then a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, averaged 31.75 minutes and 29.25 points per game. Sabonis’ poor showings are largely explained by him being a first and second-year player, on top of being asked to play power forward to accommodate Steven Adams at center. The Thunder won those four games because Russell Westbrook averaged 34.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 10 assists per game, but I’m sure Sabonis’ 5 points and 3.25 rebounds helped. 

The next time Davis and Sabonis faced off, Sabonis was a member of the Indiana Pacers and had his first legitimately good game against Davis, scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds off the bench. However, Davis only played 19:37 minutes that night as he was angling to leave New Orleans for Los Angeles and had started a quiet quitting campaign. Through five games, Sabonis was 5-0 against Davis, but it had very little to do with Sabonis. 

The Battle of California

The Anthony Davis and Domantas Sabonis rivalry began in earnest when the pair finally settled in California. Davis joined the Lakers ahead of the 2019-20 season, and Sabonis was traded to the Sacramento Kings in the middle of the 2021-22 season. Now in the same division, a rivalry that lay dormant between February of 2019 and November of 2022 was reignited. 

In round one of the Battle of California, Davis slightly outperformed Sabonis, tallying 24 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks to Sabonis’ 21 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Still, the Lakers lost 120-114 because they started Lonnie Walker IV, Patrick Beverly, Troy Brown Jr., and Wenyen Gabriel next to Davis, as De’Aaron Fox dropped a cool 32 points for the Kings. 

Round two once again saw Davis far outperform Sabonis, scoring 30 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to Sabonis’ 12 points and 15 boards, but it wasn’t enough as De’Aaron Fox torched the Lakers for 37 points. Through seven games, Sabonis is 7-0, but Davis has absolutely dominated the statistical battle. 

How Sabonis made this a real rivalry

At this point, harping on Sabonis’ unblemished record against Davis looks like a facade to air grievances, but the final three games have seen a reversal in performances. In the Lakers and Kings’ most recent contests featuring both Sabonis and Davis, Sabonis has completely dominated Davis, averaging 20.7 points, 18.3 rebounds, and 9.7 assists to Davis’ 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists. To make matters worse, Davis hasn’t finished a game shooting better than 40 percent, while Sabonis has shot 61.9 percent from the field. 

Sabonis getting to 7-0 was largely luck, but victories eight, nine, and 10 were courtesy of him handily outplaying Davis. However, there is another aspect to the rivalry that may be at play, particularly now. 

While Sabonis has only recently gotten the better of Davis, his backcourt running mates have run rampant. Since arriving in Sacramento, De’Aaron Fox, in these five matchups, has averaged 32.4 points and 7.2 assists per game on 55.5 percent shooting against Davis and the Lakers. With Sabonis as the focal point for the Kings’ dribble hand-off offense, it puts Davis in a bind. Does he get to the level of the hand-off to prevent an easy mid-range jumper, or sag back into the paint to avoid getting blown by? Clearly, the Lakers and Davis haven’t been able to strike the right defensive balance, and it all hinges on Sabonis’ ability to control the game with a hand-off. 

Comparing Sabonis and Davis’ game scores across each contest paints a pretty compelling picture of the rivalry as a whole. In the beginning, Davis was unlucky to come up empty-handed in the win column, but slowly Sabonis has improved, and now, he is simply punking Davis every time they play. 

Looking ahead to round 11

The Lakers and the Kings won’t play each other again this season, but that doesn’t mean we won’t get treated to round 11 of Davis and Sabonis before next season. The Kings sit in sixth place in the Western Conference but are in a virtual tie with the Mavericks and Suns in seventh and eighth. While they have the inside track to avoid the Play-In, it wouldn’t be a shock if they fell below the sixth seed. 

Meanwhile, the Lakers are in 10th in the West and are separated by percentage points from the Golden State Warriors in ninth. It’s very possible the Lakers and Kings could face each other in the Play-In, in a win-or-go-home game to make the playoffs. After all of the consternation over Davis’ 0-10 record against Sabonis, a victory to eliminate the Kings from the playoffs would do a lot to squash that narrative. Conversely, a loss would all but solidify Sabonis as Davis’ archnemesis, and his ultimate foil. 

Chance gave us this rivalry, but Sabonis’ growth as a player has made it real. He’s 10-0 against Anthony Davis, one of the NBA’s 75 greatest players ever, and he doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon. Here’s to hoping we get round 11 before the season ends because silly reductive sports conversations are always the most fun.