DeMarcus Cousins Posts Historic Triple-Double
DeMarcus Cousins posted the most impressive night of his NBA career statistically on Monday. The New Orleans Pelicans’ big man scored 44 points, grabbed 24 rebounds and dished out 10 assists on the night to help led the Pelicans to a 132-128 double overtime win against the Chicago Bulls.
Cousins played 51 minutes in the game, the most of his career and had little energy left following the game.
During the second overtime, the body language of Cousins’ suggested he was doing all he could just to stand. When he threw up a 3-pointer, his feet barely left the hardwood but the ball still went through the net. Nevertheless, he scored on a turnaround jumper. He also sank a pair of free throws to put the game away with just eight seconds remaining.
Teammate Anthony Davis, who scored 34 points in the game but fouled out during overtime number one, called the performance of Cousins legendary and added that his teammate earned a day off Tuesday from practice.
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With his play, Cousins became the first player in the NBA since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, now a Hall of Famer, in 1972 to score at least 40 points, grab at least 20 rebounds and hand out at least 10 assists in the same game.
Cousins said games like Monday’s are one’s you dream about as a child, one’s in which you make big plays late in the game when the game is on the line.
The heroics of Cousins almost never happened. The Pelicans stunned Chicago buy outscoring the Bulls 23-4 over the final five minutes of the fourth quarter to lead 114-112 with just over three seconds remaining. Justin Holiday of the Bulls was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer during the final second of play.
Holiday sank free throws one and two, but his third, which would have won the game, did not go in.
New Orleans was the team with a chance to ice the game at the end of overtime number one. However, a 3-point attempt by Ian Clark was short and a rushed put back by Jrue Holiday missed. DeMarcus Cousins then hit a late jumper and a pair of free throws to ice the game in the second overtime.
