On Friday, New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis recorded 45 points, 17 rebounds, five steals and five blocks in a dramatic overtime victory over the Miami Heat.No other player in NBA history had ever recorded that stat line.Since the Pelicans lost DeMarcus Cousins with a season-ending Achilles injury, Davis has simply been sensational while guiding his team to a 32-26 overall record, good for eighth place in the West heading into Sunday.During New Orleans’ four-game win streak, AD is averaging 42.3 points, 14.8 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 3.0 blocks per game.One could claim that those are video-game numbers, but they might even be more impressive than that. Although the NBA's MVP award is handed out to the most valuable player throughout the course of an entire regular-season, Davis has been consistently-dominant all year long and if he leads the Pelicans to a playoff berth, he should definitely be in the MVP conversation alongside fellow superstars James Harden, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook.

Finding the bottom of the net

In 10 games since Cousins suffered the injury, Davis has scored 38 or more points six different times. Overall, he’s averaged 32.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.4 blocks in that span. With an ability to dominate above the rim, in the post, from mid-range and now even beyond the arc, Davis has been asked to take a ridiculous amount of shots.

In nine February contests, he’s averaged 26.3 field goal attempts per game and has hoisted up 30-plus shots four times. He has also had double-digit free throw attempt games three times in that span. Therefore, he’s not only settling for shots, but is also attacking the rim and drawing contact.

"I'm just trying to do my part," Davis said after Friday’s game, per William Guillory of NOLA.com. "When (Cousins) first went out, I was overthinking. I was trying to do stuff I normally wouldn't do. I'm just playing basketball, playing with a lot of instincts. ... (I'm) just trying to make the right play, whether it's for me or my teammates.”

He caught the attention of 10-year veteran center Emeka Okafor, who has only been with the team for a couple weeks.

"He's really doing freakishly crazy things out there," Okafor said. "I've seen him from my couch essentially, but now to watch him in real life and I'm his teammate, I'm sometimes (catching myself saying), 'You're really good. You're really talented.’"

Davis is not a player who relies on getting fed in the post. Stemming from his offseason dribbling training, he can now thrive in isolation situations and consistently creates his own shots. That is a matchup nightmare for pretty much anyone, especially opposing frontcourt players.

Making the case

As seen last year, MVP voters care about the historic value of an overall season. Russell Westbrook’s triple-double heroics last year helped him overtake Harden. This season, it’s Harden who is presumably the frontrunner and his eight 40-plus point performances and team success will both play a role for voters.

Davis is the only other player in the league to score 40-plus points six times, and he might end up overtaking Harden by the end of the season if he’s fed the ball at the current frequency.

Although the Pelicans would be the West’s eighth seed if the season ended right now, it’s important to note that although most MVP winners have come from top-seeded teams, Westbrook’s dominance led him to the award despite finishing sixth in the West last season. If New Orleans can move up a couple spots (which is possible due to the number of teams with similar records), Davis should be put into the conversation. If he continues his current hot streak, voters will have to overcome a solid dose of recency bias in order to ignore him on their ballots.

What would the Pelicans be without him? 

Although it’s difficult to make a case against Harden, LeBron or Westbrook or to put Davis above them, the concept of “most valuable player” has been somewhat lost in recent years. Team success has played a gigantic role. 

For instance, although the Golden State Warriors are the closest thing we’ve seen to a dream team in recent memory, not a single one of their players should receive an MVP vote. If Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson or Draymond Green suffered an injury or missed games for any reason, three other All-Stars would still be there. But, based on recent MVP odds derived from Basketball-Reference.com, Davis ranks seventh behind both Curry and Durant, most likely as a direct result of Golden State’s team success.

Although Westbrook carried his team alone throughout the entirety of the 2016-2017 season, Davis is essentially doing the same thing right now. It’d be easy to make the argument that without him on the floor, the Pelicans might not even win another game for the rest of the season.

It's worth mentioning that Harden has Chris Paul beside him.. Westbrook has Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. Giannis Antetokounmpo has had Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe and now even has Jabari Parker back. Therefore, shouldn't that slightly diminish their overall value from an MVP perspective?

Davis and LeBron might be the most valuable players in the league at the present moment. While that certainly doesn’t mean Davis should win the award (he won’t), he should absolutely receive some votes and at least be in the conversation. If he averages what he's done the last four games for the rest of the season and leads the Pelicans to the playoffs, he might be able to overtake some of his competition.