Davis surpasses, wants New Orleans to be unbeatable

Anthony Davis again showed why he is among the favorites to win the NBA 2018-19 regular season MVP title with a dominant performance in the 131-131 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Houston Wednesday.

The Pelicans forward has met last season's most valuable player, James Harden, in his first game of the new campaign. The Rockets should be one of the main opponents to challenge the dominance of the Golden State Warriors on the Western Conference.

But it was Davis who stole the show, barely missing a triple-double after scoring 32 points, 16 rebounds and eight career assists to lead his team to a dominant victory. The striker, however, was modest when asked how he felt about beating last season's top scorer with a decisive win over last season's Western Conference finalists.

"I take what the defense gives me," Davis said after Wednesday's victory, quoted by the Express. "I'm just going to go out there and have fun."

Anthony Davis scored 32 points when the New Orleans pelicans defeated the Houston Rockets in their first game of the 2018-19 NBA season. In this photo, Davis # 23 of the New Orleans Pelicans are on the pitch at the last minute of their loss to the Golden State Warriors in the fifth game of the semifinals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs Western Conference at the Orace Arena in Oakland, California, May 8, 2018. Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

"That's all I do and the other things will come later," added the Pelicans striker. "It's only the first game, so we still have a lot of work to do."

The pelicans performed a total performance on the first day. The new boys, Julius Randle and Nikola Mirotic, also played a key role in the win. The first has contributed with 25 points and eight rebounds, while the last has reached 30 points and 10 rebounds.

And Davis was impressed by the team's performance tonight and thinks it will be hard to beat if she continues to play as she did against the Rockets.

"Tonight we did a great job in imposing our will on the defense," said Davis congratulating the team. "We have made the most of our opportunities."

"We took the rebounds when they arrived," said the MVP candidate. "If we continue to play like this, we will be hard to beat."

Davis seems to be keeping his pre-season promise when he said he was ready to be "awesome" every night. The Pélicans striker wants to compete for major honors each season, which is similar to the way LeBron James, although sometimes not part of the best team, managed to play in the finals of the NBA during eight consecutive years.

"When you look at LeBron [James]"Every year you know that he's going to be great and that his team will have a chance to win the title," said Davis, quoted in Slam Online. "From now on, I want to be in this conversation every year. Not every two years. Not every few years. Every year. If that happens, we will have to win and I should be the most dominant player. "