There are a wide range of statistics that demonstrate Anthony Davis’ importance to his team this season, but the simplest and most telling is probably this: New Orleans is 21-25 when he’s at full strength, but just 2-10 when the three-time All-Star is either sidelined or leaves a game early due to injury or illness. Since Nov. 20, the Pelicans are above .500 when the 22-year-old logs at least 20 minutes, at 20-19.
On Wednesday, New Orleans (23-35 overall) would greatly prefer not to have to figure out how to beat Houston (29-30) without the ’15 first-team All-NBA selection.