This one hurts. It’s a blow to the gut of a Pelicans team trying to find its stride, a blow to the breakout year a young star was having, and it could be a blow to the All-Star Game coming to his city in a couple months.
New Orleans’ Anthony Davis broke a bone in his left hand in the first quarter Sunday night against the Knicks and will be out indefinitely, the team announced. He returned to the bench in a heavy cast during the game. As of right now there are not more details on the injury.
Davis, in his second season, is averaging 19.6 points shooting 50.2 percent, is pulling down 10.6 rebounds a game plus averages 3.9 blocks a contest. This season he has the second highest PER in the league at 28.6 (training only LeBron James at 30.5).
The Pelicans were starting to find a groove with their five best players on the court and Davis was key to it — he runs the court well and either gets set up in a dangerous position where he scores or draws the attention of the defense leaving room for others to get off clean looks.
Look for Ryan Anderson to get some extra run for the Pelicans without Davis.
But they are just not going to be quite the same without him, and in a deep West that could be enough to really damage their playoff chances.