Pelicans.com continues its look back at the 2015-16 season with player-by-player analysis of the team:
2015-16 OVERVIEW
There was a perception from some basketball analysts that Anthony Davis took a step back from his previous season – when he was an All-NBA first-team selection – but that’s not an outlook shared by his head coach. Davis put up nearly identical statistics in scoring average (24.3 ppg compared to 24.4 last season) and rebounding average (10.3 rpg, slightly better than 10.2 last season). However, team results greatly impacted assessments of the three-time All-Star – the Pelicans dipped from 45 wins to 30 and did not return to the playoffs. New Orleans went 24-37 in the 61 games Davis played, prior to his season coming to an end March 20, a result of him requiring a procedure on his left knee.
“I think Anthony improved as a player, and you always want to see that from your main guy, your No. 1 core guy,” Pelicans first-year coach Alvin Gentry said. “He improved from the season he had before. Unfortunately we didn’t win the number of games that would catapult him into the talk for MVP of anything like that, but he had a terrific year.
“I thought he had a fantastic year. He was having a great year prior to the injury. He was shooting the ball well, averaging almost 25 points a game, averaging almost 11 rebounds. It was just tough for us, because the injuries just decimated our team. Most of the nights he was playing against a minimum of two (defenders) and sometimes three guys running at him, and he still was able to put up those kinds of numbers. He’s one of the truly great players in the league.”
When the decision was made March 20 to shut down Davis for the rest of the season, the Pelicans were 25-43, with their realistic postseason hopes extinguished. New Orleans was within four games of eighth-place Houston weeks earlier, but lost a back-breaking game at the Rockets on March 2, falling five games back in the standings.
“My knee was definitely killing me, but I knew what we were playing for,” Davis said of playing through discomfort during the playoff chase. “I just wanted to play the game of basketball. When you have so much love for the game, there is not a lot that can stop you from (playing). (But) it was one of those things where it just kept lingering and getting worse as I played. So I had to make a smart decision for not just myself, but the team, and our (future) that we want to build here. I did not want this to become something drastic, when it can be fixed early. I was just trying to think about our future, not just from an individual standpoint, but also the team.”
TOP THREE ANTHONY DAVIS GAMES OF 2015-16
#3, Jan. 2: New Orleans 105, Dallas 98
In one of two Pelicans road wins against a host that ultimately qualified for the 2016 NBA playoffs, Davis began the calendar year in fine fashion, ringing up 31 points and 14 rebounds. New Orleans led after every quarter to beat Dallas.
#2, Dec. 4: New Orleans 114, Cleveland 108 (OT)
Davis shouldered a huge load against the Cavaliers, logging 46 minutes and finishing with 31 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. He was 13/22 from the field, including 2/4 on treys. This was one of a handful of New Orleans wins over elite opponents, a list that also included San Antonio, Oklahoma City and the Clippers.
#1, Feb. 21: New Orleans 111, Detroit 106
Davis’ 59 points were the most scored by any NBA player all season until the final night, when retiring Lakers legend Kobe Bryant notched 60 points (while firing 50 shots). Davis was significantly more efficient, shooting 24/34 from the floor and 9/10 from the foul line. If that wasn’t convincing enough to claim this as the best individual performance in the league all season, Davis also collected 20 rebounds against the Pistons.
BEHIND THE NUMBERS
35: Davis three-pointers made out of 108 attempts this season, a 32.4 percent success rate. Over his first three seasons in the NBA, he was just 3/27 (but one of those makes was a momentous buzzer-beater at Oklahoma City in February 2015).
66.5: Field-goal percentage for Davis on shots taken from less than five feet (256/385), according to NBA.com. He was a bit more accurate the previous season there, at 70.4 percent (345/490), but almost exactly the same two seasons ago, at 66.9 percent (317/474).
7.0: Attempts from the foul line per game for Davis. He has increased this number every year of his career, from 3.5 to 6.6 to 6.8 to 7.0.