5 greatest games by Los Angeles Lakers stars against their former team

3. Anthony Davis: New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Lakers, January 3, 2020

• Box score: 46 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist, 1 block

Maybe it is recency bias. Maybe it is because I got to actually watch this game live unlike the previous two (I was three years old when Shaq played his game against the Magic). Regardless, this was a dominating showing by Anthony Davis against his former team to kickstart the 2020 calendar year.

This was vintage Davis. This was the AD that we often see show up on primetime games as well as the NBA Playoffs. Davis played with a chip on his shoulder in this one and it showed. He wanted to remind his team just how good they had it when they had him on the roster.

Not only did AD drop 46 points with 13 boards but he was crazy efficient in the game as well. Davis made 15 of his 21 shot attempts, making three of five from deep. Even more impressively, Davis made all 13 of his free throws.

Only 16 players in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise have gone 100% from the free-throw line with 13 or more attempts in a game. Davis had two of those games last year. Ironically enough, Shaquille O’Neal has one of these games as well.

In terms of Basketball-Reference’s Game Score statistic, this was AD’s second-best game last season. The only game that was better was his 50-point outing against the Minnesota Timberwolves a month prior.