Friendly Bounce Open Run: Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook return in style

Welcome back to Friendly Bounce’s Open Run. 

Anthony Davis is not mortal: @Matt_Cianfrone

Thanks to some real life things I missed most of the early games but I did get home just in time to see Anthony Davis put the finishing touches on his 39 point, 13 rebound, 2 assist, 3 steal, 8 block effort in his first game back from a sprained shoulder.

The amazing part about it was how easily AD made things look. There was the almost dagger he hit after coming off a pindown screen exactly like a guard would. Or the utter destruction of a Greg Monroe shot attempt in the fourth quarter that made people actually feel sorry for Monroe. No matter what Davis did it looked too easy, something that only a few players in the league can do.

And that is what makes it all so scary for the Pelicans opponents. Davis is just 21 years old. Unlike most of the guys who can do things that aren’t human and make them look easy, Davis isn’t in his prime yet. It seems unfathomable but somehow he is still going to get better.

For now though, we can just continue to enjoy efforts like tonight.

Bow down to Russell Westbrook: @jackhaveitall

So the other day Russell Westbrook got hit so hard in the side of the head that he had a visible dent. Like, the side of his face looked like a water bottle when you press your thumbs into it and make that little circular dent.

And then the guy comes back–after missing only one game–and drops a 49 point, 16 rebounds, 10 assist triple-double. I mean, I don’t even know what to say at this point other than that he’s the MVP. 37/13.5/10.5 over his last four games, all triple-doubles, all without Durant. Whatever argument you want to use, whatever way you want to go about it, this guy is the MVP.

Stop worrying about how many shots he takes and start focusing on how impressive he’s been over the last few weeks, the last month, the whole season, really. This is a stretch of basketball for the ages by King Russell. And it’s time we all bow down.

Victor Oladipo had his superstar moment: @ChrisBarnewall

With every young player there’s that moment of their career where you realize how good that player can become, and it shows just what kind of peak they can reach. Victor Oladipo finally had one of those moments in last night’s close loss to the Phoenix Suns. Without his 38 points there would have been no close loss at all, because Oladipo was EVERYWHERE.

He was attacking the basket with reckless abandon, dropping buckets, grabbing steals, and amidst all the chaos he was creating he had seven turnovers. That comes with youth, but rest assured Oladipo showed why some think he might be a superstar one day. The kid can play, and last night was the flash of a future superstar. His very first superstar moment.