Anthony Davis appeared completely healthy in a dominant opening-night showing against the Denver Nuggets.

Although the rest of the New Orleans Pelicans didn't help much in a 107-102 loss, The Brow was as good as ever Wednesday night.

Even in defeat, this is a stat line that will be difficult to replicate over the course of the year. With only two other players in double figures, however, earning a win was difficult.

While scoring 50 points in a game is always exciting, the versatility of the performance is what stands out. Chris Manning of NBA 2K noted how close he was to history:

Davis came one block short of a rare "5x5" showing, but he would have had easily the best of all time if he had reached that mark. 

ESPN Stats & Info noted how good the effort was on its own:

As Zach Harper of CBS Sports joked, these are beyond video game numbers:

DeMar DeRozan also scored 40 points for the Toronto Raptors, making him and Davis the first duo to score that many in their season openers since Michael Jordan and Karl Malone accomplished the feat in 1989-90, per ESPN Stats & Info. The same account also noted that only Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor have scored 50 in the first game of the year.

The Pelicans' official Twitter account provided some offensive highlights from the outstanding performance:

Scott Kushner of the Advocate summed up the thoughts from most fans:

Davis did just about as much as the rest of his team combined and gave the Pelicans a fighting chance to win. While they came up short, this was a memorable showing from start to finish. 

The big numbers started early as Davis took it upon himself to take care of the first-quarter scoring for the Pelicans, per Justin Verrier of ESPN.com:

This continued with 28 points in the first half, which was already enough to set a franchise record for the most points in an opening night, as noted by the team's Twitter account. He also had five rebounds, five steals, two assists and two blocks.

On the other hand, Shane Young of The Cauldron noted a major problem for the team:

Denver held a 60-48 lead at halftime, and while there were some charges in the third, the lead was still double digits heading into the fourth quarter.

Of course, Davis was still on a roll with 40 points by the end of the third.

With a little bit of help from the rest of the team, New Orleans was finally able to make a comeback in the fourth quarter. By the time the lead was cut to two, the crowd was raining praise on their superstar, per Rod Walker of the Advocate:

Unfortunately for New Orleans, this was as close as the team would get, as Denver pulled away for the five-point win. Still, even in defeat, the story of the game was the play of the All-Star forward.

Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey summed up the showing:

Davis has obviously showed he can be one of the best players in the NBA when healthy. He has already gone to three All-Star Games and was named first-team All-NBA two years ago after averaging 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.

The problem has been his history with injuries, limiting him to fewer than 70 games played in each of his four seasons. He only played 61 games last year, ending the season early due to knee surgery. He even suffered a sprained ankle in the preseason that threatened his availability for Wednesday's game. 

However, he looked 100 percent in Game 1 while showcasing his full skill set against the Nuggets. If he can keep this up and stay healthy, Davis will bring home a lot of accolades this season.

Postgame Reaction

As good as Davis' game was, it's clear all he cared about was the final score:

Meanwhile, his head coach believes these types of numbers can continue.

"This is who he wants to be," Alvin Gentry said of Davis after the game, per Jacqueline Kantor of Vice Sports. "The workload is there."

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