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Knock on wood: Baron's on a real health kick
Baron Davis celebrated an anniversary on Tuesday, and everybody missed it, even some of the more notorious Golden State Warriors fact sleuths, such as team public relations director Raymond Ridder. It probably even slipped past Baron, but it's definitely worth firing up a belated candle on this one: March 11, 2007 marked the last time Davis missed an NBA game. That's right, we've gone a full calendar year with B.D. totally absent from I.R. Wednesday night against Toronto, in fact, he officially started Year 2 as the team's unlikely "Iron Man" with 23 points, 15 assists and yet another brilliant late-game performance. Who would have comprehended that on March 12 of last season, Davis would play a game against Dallas, and counting playoffs, begin a run that was extended to 91 consecutive games with the Warriors' 117-106 victory over the Raptors? Davis is the only Warrior to play in every one of his team's games. The only game he has even technically missed is the All-Star Game he should have been part of, and hey, that wasn't his fault. We all know how badly he wanted to play in that one. Baron only played in 63 regular-season games last season, and he matched that as well on Wednesday night with 19 games left to go. Since his amazing streak of 262 consecutive games during his first three-plus seasons, Davis' high is 67 games played in 2003-04. Barring something catastrophic — and we'll supply the lumber to knock on — he's going to blow by that, too. "This is a pretty special year for him, and that's probably why we have the record we have," said coach Don Nelson. As much as anyone, Nelson simply can't believe Davis hasn't missed a single game, even in spite of all the precautions the coach has taken to keep his point guard fresh. He works him lightly in practice. During a recent schedule quirk in which the Warriors had five days off in the row, Davis didn't practice at all in four of them. He got another extended physical respite missing the All-Star Game. But even at that, the run has been phenomenal, if only because Davis is averaging 39.3 minutes through the first 63 games, the eighth heaviest load in the NBA. Only once in his career, his third season in Charlotte, did Baron exceed that. But if he's the least bit fatigued, he isn't showing it. On the Warriors' most recent four-game road trip, he scored 30 or more points in three of them. He's shooting over 50 percent for the month of March. "Somehow, he's done it," said Nelson. "I thought maybe on three or four occasions, he might need to take a game off. He was banged up, plus tired. But he played anyway. I think he and Jack (Stephen Jackson) have just decided that they're going to play in as many games as they can possibly play." With 19 more to go, the sobering fact is Davis still can't afford to miss any games because the playoffs are still in doubt. The minutes load will continue as well. Nelson went into the season hoping he could play him 30-32 minutes a game but simply hasn't been able to do it. "I just think I wasn't going to be able to win doing that," Nelson said. Warriors director of athletic development Mark Grabow maintained Davis might not be able to sustain such a grueling pace under any other coach. He pointed out that any edge Nelson can find to give Davis rest away from the games, he does it. "He really knows how to monitor Baron because he wants him at 100 percent for every game," Grabow said. "If he has to give him a much lower involvement during practice, he'll do that. He just understands what's more important." But Grabow added that Davis, who'll turn 29 on April 13, has also taken a much more acute approach to his day-to-day rehabilitation and core conditioning work. He reported to training camp in excellent shape and his weight as low as it had been since his UCLA days. That, along with the daily maintenance, has paid off. "He does it religiously because he's trying to stay on top of his body all the time," he said. "I don't have to go looking for him. He'll seek me out. I think he realizes this season is a contract year, and he has to show his durability. I think he'd like to play this whole string out." Of course, there is one other factor to Davis' run that can't be overlooked. Despite his physically punishing style of play, he has managed to avoid the debilitating injury. No seriously sprained ankles, no back flare-ups, no muscle pulls, no uncommon stiffness or swelling in his knees, both of which have been subjected to past surgeries. "There's some luck involved," Grabow said. "You never know when you might step on someone's foot. You just keep your fingers crossed." And kiss a horseshoe. And knock on wood. And avoid cement cracks. Whatever it takes to keep Davis on his feet and in the game. But to make it for a full year? It's at least worth a pause to acknowledge a feat no one believed was possible. Isn't there a song we can sing?
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