It didn’t take Anthony Davis long to endear himself to fans of the Dallas Mavericks.
Less than five minutes into Saturday afternoon’s game against the Houston Rockets, Davis had already picked up six points, four rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot, and Dallas was ahead, 14-7. And the American Airlines Center sellout crowd of 20,303 was absolutely loving it.
With Von Miller – Super Bowl Most Valuable Player following the 2015 season — sitting courtside, Davis and the Mavs looked pretty super themselves as they released a lot of steam from an emotional week, capped with them bouncing the Rockets, 116-105.
Knowing that all eyeballs were on him, Davis stormed through the lane, soared to grabbed an offensive rebound and viciously slammed the ball through the basket. As the Rockets called timeout, Davis was swinging his arms and encouraging the crowd to go berserk and get louder, which they obliged.
“I was playing with a lot of emotions,” Davis said. “Obviously, I know this city has a lot of emotions right now and I’m just 
trying to do my job and change that emotion for good.
“Like I said in that press conference (on Friday), I’m letting Dallas fans know what they got in a player like me. Just a little friendly reminder of who Anthony Davis is.”
If the Mavs fans didn’t know before, now they know. Davis already had a double-double – 16 points, 10 rebounds – with 5:33 left before halftime. He was that dominant.
Davis finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks, and was 10-of-18 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range in 31 minutes. But he caused a scare among Mavs Nation when he went to the locker room late in the third quarter and did not return due to a lower body injury.
“The leg got tight — like a little spasm,” Davis said. “I came back and tried to get it loose and everything. Obviously, I’m dealing with the ab strain, still.
“I just tried to get it loose. It wouldn’t really like loosen up and let go. But it’s nothing serious. I’m fine. (It’s in) the groin/quad kind of area. It’s right in the middle.”
Davis, who the Mavs acquired last week along with Max Christie in a blockbuster trade which sent guard Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, started the game by
perfecting a lob dunk to Daniel Gafford. The crowd immediately roared its approval, and the fans kept getting energized with each moment produced by Davis.
“We’ve been talking about that (lob dunk) ever since he got here for practice,” said Gafford, who also had nine rebounds and six blocks. “He was telling me if they come double, just go to the front of the basket and I’m going to throw it up, and that’s exactly what happened. I’m glad he’s on my team.”
The combination of a big lineup with Davis and Gafford at power forward and center, respectively, forced the Rockets to rethink things and start the second half with two bigs of their own in Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams.
“That’s a compliment,” Gafford said, “because they’re trying to find ways to prevent what happened in the first half.”
By the time the Mavs carved out a 28-15 lead at the 2:47 mark of the first quarter, Davis had 14 points, seven rebounds and 
three assists. And he had the crowd eating out of his hands.
At the end of the first quarter the Mavs were up, 33-20, behind 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists from Davis, who was 6-of-8 from the floor at that juncture of the game.
“Obviously it was an emotional day – my first game here in Dallas – just from the standpoint of being on a new team,” Davis said. “First time putting the (Mavs’) uniform on, so (there were) a lot of emotions before game time.
“All day I was trying to figure out what reaction I was going to have, and obviously it was welcoming, and I think that just kind of helped with my energy with the crowd reacting the way they did. Obviously, a big-time win and we’ll just try to keep it going.”
The Mavs improved to 28-25 on the season and will try to keep it going when they host Sacramento on Monday, while the Rockets fell to 32-20.
Besides Davis, the Mavs got 23 points from Christie, 16 points from Naji Marshall, 13 points apiece from Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving, and 10 points from Spencer Dinwiddie. The Mavs also set a franchise record with 18 blocked shots, including three from P. J. Washington, who went
down in the second quarter and did not return after suffering a right ankle sprain.
The Rockets were led by Sengun (30 points, eight rebounds), Jalen Green (24 points, six assists) and Amen Thompson (20 points, seven rebounds).
When Houston mounted a charge to get within 106-100, it was Christie who stepped up and buried a three-pointer via a feed from Irving to give the Mavs some breathing room at 109-100 with 1:38 remaining.
“It’s just a free-flowing shot, to be honest,” said Christie, who turns 22 on Monday. “I think Naji was open in the corner, but I kind of just free-flowed and instantly shot it and it went in.
“To hear the crowd erupt like that was super cool for me, especially my first home game. I was trying to come out and have a really good game for the fans and kind of introduce myself, so I think that helped me out.”
Christie, in fact, tallied seven of the Mavs’ final 10 points and helped snuff out any attempts the Rockets had of coming out of 
here with a win.
“We all understand the situation that this franchise and this team is in,” Christie said. “Obviously, trading away someone like (Dončić), it’s human nature for people to be upset about that.
“But as a team we recognize that, but we realize we’re professionals and we have a job to do to come out there and win games. I think we did a good job of kind of just staying focused and not letting the noise distract us.”
With protesters outside the arena, the Mavs were busy shooting 47 percent from the field and a healthy 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from beyond the three-point arc. And also busy winning over fans who may or may not have been on the fence with this team following a tumultuous week.
“We’re not outside, so the only way we know about the protest is from you (media) guys,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “We play the game inside. We’re not playing the protest. We’re not outside playing.
“The protest has nothing to do with the game. The protesters have the right to do that. I understand where
that’s coming from, but the game is about basketball and that group played at a high level against a very talented team in Houston. A big win for the Mavs.”
By halftime — with the Mavs nursing a 65-48 lead — Davis had 24 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. He’s the first player since the 1996-97 season to record at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in a half.
Eventually, the Mavs led by as much as 21 points as they looked very comfortable introducing Davis to their lineup. Especially with Marshall hitting some key baskets while scoring 12 of his points in the second half.
“I’m just playing hard and trying to get my feet and my legs back under me,” Marshall said. “I’m feeling good again.
“I felt like a basketball player, so I’m just sticking with it and playing hard.”
That’s precisely what Davis did.
“He was great,” Kidd said, referring to Davis. “The way he came out, I thought the energy and effort was at a high.
“He was AD. It’s very simple. It’s not complex. It’s like groceries. You know what you get.”
And what the Mavs got Saturday from Davis was a superb performance. Plus, they played at a faster pace which put tons of pressure on the Rockets’ defense in a game that had a bit of a playoff atmosphere to it.
“That first half said it,” Gafford said. “The energy was there, we were getting the offense going, we were getting the defense going.
“It was just a lot of stuff that kind of tied in to how we were playing in the first half. The energy was just through the roof.”
Thanks, in large part, to Anthony Davis.
X: @DwainPrice
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