Why Shannon Sharpe wasn’t impressed by Anthony Davis’ showing vs. Rockets

FS1’s Shannon Sharpe made intriguing comments regarding why he wasn’t impressed by Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis’ showing against the Houston Rockets.

The Los Angeles Lakers have looked like the top-seeded team in the Western Conference throughout the NBA’s bubble version of the 2020 playoffs, which isn’t surprising considering their superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers outwilled the Portland Trail Blazers, and simply outplayed the Houston Rockets and the Denver Nuggets in the following rounds.

Davis and James have played with a vengeance, which is to expected, as neither of them were even in the playoffs during the 2018-19 season, as James battled injuries and Davis’ former New Orleans Pelicans team won just 33 games. Davis was the leading scorer in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, as he had 34 points and was simply too much for the Miami Heat to handle.

Davis had a similar showing during the Lakers’ 2020 Western Conference Semifinals round against the Houston Rockets, as he posted averages of 25.4 points and a series-leading 12.4 rebounds, which got alot of people talking.

Why Shannon Sharpe wasn’t impressed by Davis’ showing against Houston Rockets

But not everyone was impressed with Davis’ showing against the Rockets, as FS1’s Shannon Sharpe not only articulated that he wasn’t impressed, but explained his rationale behind why he didn’t put too much stock into Davis’ play against the Rockets on FS1’s Undisputed.

“AD is playing unbelievable. He’s dominated every big he’s gone against. Houston didn’t have a big, so we take that away.”

Sharpe made sure to give Davis his due credit for how he’s dominated the bigs he’s gone against, while mentioning Denver Nuggets star Nikola Nokia as proof, but stated that he discredits Davis’ play against the Rockets, due to the Rockets’ lack of a big man.

These were interesting comments from Sharpe, who has made no qualms about his Lakers fandom. Sharpe’s comments are consistent with the media’s belief that the Rockets’ microball approach handicaps them against the best teams in the league, and especially those with size.

But the interesting thing about Davis’ play against the Houston Rockets is that he averaged his fewest points throughout the postseason during the Lakers’ Semifinals round vs. the Rockets, as Davis averaged 29.8 against the Blazers and 31.2 points against the Nuggets, compared to just 25.4 against the small ball-powered Rockets.

Davis and the Lakers take the court tonight for Game 2 of the Finals, and the Heat are hobbled, as Bam Adebayo and former Houston Rockets guard Goran Dragic are both listed as doubtful. But based on the Lakers’ showing in Game 1, it likely won’t matter, as they routed the Heat 116-98.

But regardless of whether the Lakers win the title, it’ll remain factual that Davis had his worst showing against the Rockets, in spite of their lack of a legitimate big man.