WASHINGTON — Anthony Davis scored a career-high 59 points and grabbed 20 rebounds Sunday in one of the NBA’s most epic performances, powering the New Orleans Pelicans over host Detroit 111-106.
The 22-year-old forward scored eight points in the first quarter, 18 in the second, 14 more in the third and 19 in the fourth quarter with the game still in doubt to produce the most points by any NBA player in a game this season.
“Everybody on the bench was saying, ‘That’s a lot of points. He can score them all, you might as well get 60,’” Davis said. “It’s great to finally score 50. Now that I’ve got that off my shoulders, I can go out and just keep playing.
“We play hard, play great defense, play with a lot of energy. We’re just clicking on all cylinders right now.” Davis became only the third NBA player since 1983 with 50 points and 20 rebounds in a game, the first since Chris Webber had 51 points and 26 rebounds in 2001. Shaquille O’Neal had a career-high 61 points and 23 rebounds in a 2000 game.
“It’s great to be in the category with those two guys who dominated the game,” Davis said.
Davis connected of 24-of-34 shots from the floor and still managed to pass off four assists and block a shot. He made both 3-pointers he attempted and went 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
At 22-33, the Pelicans are 5 1/2 games behind Houston for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, but Davis says New Orleans is ready for a late-season surge.
Trail Blazers 115, Jazz 111: Guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined for 61 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers past the Utah Jazz 115-111 at the Moda Center. McCollum scored 31 points and Lillard 30 points as the Trail Blazers won for the 10th time in 11 games. Forward Moe Harkless came off the bench for 17 points and seven rebounds for Portland (29-27).
Cavaliers 115, Thunder 92: Forward Kevin Love scored 29 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to an emphatic 115-92 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Love shot 9 of 18 from the field and hauled in 11 rebounds. Forward LeBron James started slowly, recording only two points in the first 10 minutes but eventually collected 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds as the Cavaliers improved to 40-14.
Celtics 121, Nuggets 101: Guard Isaiah Thomas had 22 points and 12 assists, and the surging Boston Celtics beat the Denver Nuggets 121-101. Forward Jared Sullinger had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, which had a 48-36 edge in rebounding despite being undersized against Denver.
Guard Avery Bradley added 20 points for the Celtics (33-24), who have won 11 of 14 to stay on the heels of first-place Toronto in the Atlantic Division.
Spurs 118, Suns 111: Guards Tony Parker scored 22 points and Patty Mills added 21 as the San Antonio Spurs struggled with the Phoenix Suns before pulling away for a 118-111 win.
Forward LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Rasual Butler had 12 points for the Spurs, who won for the eighth time in the last nine games to improve to 47-9, the best 56-game start in franchise history. That record is one game better than the 2010-11 Spurs team (46-10).
In other games it was: Hornets 104, Nets 96; Pacers 105, Magic 102; Raptors 89, Grizzlies 85; Mavericks 129, 76ers 103; Bulls 126, Lakers 115. — Agencies
