Last night, the New Orleans Pelicans garnered a 114-107 come-from-behind victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. With this, NOLA finds themselves holding the number seven seed out West (9-8 on the season). The contest saw many attention grabbing aspects to it, including Anthony Davis’ 36 point,15 rebound performance, Rajon Rondo’s Pelican high eight assists and Darius Millers continued success from beyond the three-point line (75% shooting). However, quite possibly the biggest “stand out” factoid of the night was DeMarcus Cousins’ third quarter ejection.
Upon grabbing a defensive rebound, DeMarcus Cousins raised his elbows, subsequently striking OKC point guard Russell Westbrook in the face. The guard, while clutching his head, crashed to the floor and laid their for several seconds. Initially, Cousins was not ejected from the game. However, after going to the replay, officials deemed the act “reckless” and thus calling it a flagrant foul 2 on Boogie, tossing him from the contest with five minutes left to play in the quarter.
In regards to Cousins’ ejection, New Orleans point guard Jrue Holiday said postgame;
"“We didn’t think it was that fair. He doesn’t do anything intentional”"
While there could be a case for Boogie being innocent for, right after Westbrook went down, Cousins is seen muttering the words “he floppin”, when looking back on his career “escapades” the officials made the sensible call.
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Throughout his eight year NBA career, DeMarcus Cousins has seen his fair share of ejections; 11 to be exact. Averaging 269 fouls per season, it is evident Cousins is quite the physical player. If he plans to be successful as well as be a factor for his team, the All-Star may want to consider toning his physicality down.
By this, I do not mean to say Cousins should play “soft.” His bully ball in the paint makes him one of the most dominant forces down low. However, throwing elbows is not an example of physicality but, rather, excessive force.
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While the Pelicans ultimately won the contest, outscoring the Thunder 27 to 21 in the fourth, the absence of Cousins made the game a lot more difficult than it had to be.
"“It was tough losing [Cousins], being one of our star players, but anything is liable to happen in a game,” said front court partner Anthony Davis. “So guys stepped up and were ready to play.”"
DeMarcus Cousins is one of the best payers the game has to offer. With season averages of 26.6 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.7 SPG and 1.5 BPG Boogie is on pace towards having his best statistical season as a pro. However, these heroic efforts will all be for naught if he cannot stay on the hardwood. Although this is just his first ejection of the season, knowing his track record, it is safe to say his chances of coming across a few more come April are pretty high.
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The Pelicans are looking to win, and win now. However, if Cousins continues to “Boogie” by constantly finding himself riding the pine due to unnecessary fouls, winning could prove to be more challenging than expected.
Statistics and player quotes provided by ‘ESPN.com’