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It was a big night for Anthony Davis, as he finished with 53 points, 18 rebounds and 5 blocks in the Pelicans' win over the Suns on Monday. Davis did it all without a single 3-pointer, going 0-for-1 from downtown. The most recent player without a made 3 in a 50-point game was Davis on Oct. 26, 2016. Before that game, it hadn’t happened since Allen Iverson did so on Dec. 5, 2007. The most recent player with 50 points and five blocks in a game was David Robinson on Feb. 21, 1994 ... when Davis wasn’t yet a year old (born March 11, 1993). Davis and Robinson are the only individuals to accomplish this in the past 35 seasons; Robinson also did it in 1993. Elias research shows that Davis joined Bob McAdoo as the only players with 50 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks in a game since blocks were tracked in 1973-74. McAdoo had 52 points, 22 rebounds and 7 blocks on Feb. 22, 1974. He led the NBA in scoring that season, with 30.6 points per game. It was the third 50-point showing of Davis’ career. He’s the 11th player in NBA history with at least three 50-point games before he turned 25. The others are Wilt Chamberlain (13), Michael Jordan (9), LeBron James (8), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (8), Rick Barry (7), Kobe Bryant (5), Tracy McGrady (4), Bob McAdoo (4), Nate “Tiny” Archibald (4) and Adrian Dantley (4). Part of how he got to his 53 points was free throws, in which Davis was 21-of-26. That was four more free throws than he’d attempted in any prior game in his career (22 on Nov. 20, 2017), and three more than he’d ever made in a game (18 in that same game). The most recent player to go to the line 25 times in a 50-point game was Devin Booker, who was 24-of-26 on free throws in his 70-point game on March 24, 2017. Davis’ Pelicans opposed Booker’s Suns in Monday’s game. Speaking of Booker, he had quite the game, with 40 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. But thanks to Davis’ points and rebounds and Rajon Rondo’s 12 assists, Booker did not lead the game in any of those categories. Elias research shows that Booker is the first player to have at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and not lead the game in any category since Billy Cunningham on Jan. 16, 1972, for the 76ers against the Hawks. In that game, Pete Maravich led in scoring (50), Herm Gilliam led in assists (7), and Walt Bellamy led in rebounds (16).
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