Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Phoenix Suns fans are enjoying a rare opportunity to dunk on the rival Los Angeles Lakers, including highlighting some statistical differences between Anthony Davis and Jae Crowder.
Phoenix Suns fans are loving their team right now. After posting the best record in the league by an eight-game margin during the regular season, they’re up 2-0 on the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the NBA playoffs. With Devin Booker back in the lineup and healthy they’re looking like the team to beat and the statistical models agree — FiveThirtyEight gives them a 42 percent chance of winning it all, better than the Celtics, Heat and Warriors combined.
Part of celebrating that success has been looking for opportunities to dunk on their rivals, particularly the Los Angeles Lakers who couldn’t even muster enough wins to earn a spot in the play-in tournament. For example, one industrious NBA Redditor has called out the fact that Jae Crowder now has more career playoff points than Anthony Davis.
Jae Crowder has outscored Anthony Davis in his playoff career
Crowder and Davis were both selected in the 2021 NBA Draft — Davis with the No. 1 pick and Crowder with the No. 34 pick. Davis has done much more scoring than Crowder, almost any way you slice it, but by virtue of having played in nearly three times as many playoff games as Davis, Crowder has a 25-point edge in total playoff points.
If Suns fans really wanted to rub it in they could also point out that Crowder has more playoff rebounds, assists and steals and, across his entire career, has played in 194 more playoff and regular-season games than the oft-injured Davis. He also has an edge (505 to 325) in total games won across the playoffs and regular season.
Sure, Davis has won a ring and made a bunch of All-Star teams. But right now, he’s at home, the Suns are winning and Jae Crowder is still getting buckets. If you can’t crow about that, what can you crow about?