Cousins carries Pelicans past Kings
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – DeMarcus Cousins had 37 points and 13 rebounds in his first game against the Kings, and the New Orleans Pelicans routed Sacramento 117-89 on Friday night.
Cousins had downplayed his first meeting with the team that drafted him in 2010 and traded him away this February, but his play looked inspired. He tied a career-high with five 3pointers and executed a tricky, crowd-pleasing, cross-court bounce pass during a fast break.
Anthony Davis added 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks for the Pelicans, who led by as many as 32 en route to their eighth victory in 11 games.
Pelicans first-round draft choice Buddy Hield, who was part of the Cousins trade, had 13 points for Sacramento, while Ben McLemore had 15 points.
Cousins, who also finished with four assists and two blocked shots, received a standing ovation from many fans when he checked out of the game for the final time with a little more than three minutes left.
Skal Labissiere scored 13 points for the Kings, who shot 39.3 percent (35 of 89). Tyreke Evans, Willie CauleyStein and Gerogios Papagiannis each scored 11 points.
But the Kings had no answer for the front-court tandem of Cousins and Davis, who helped New Orleans finish with a 60-38 advantage in points in the paint. New Orleans also scored 27 fast-break points and racked up 36 points off of 22 Kings turnovers.
Sacramento fell to 5-14 since trading away Cousins in a deal that also sent Evans, Langston Galloway and first- and second-round draft choices to the Kings. Warriors 107, Rockets 98 OAKLAND – Stephen Curry scored 24 points, Klay Thompson had 20 and Golden State got key plays down the stretch from just about everybody, using a big fourth quarter to hold off Houston.
Andre Iguodala’s lefthanded drive and layup tied it with 7:07 remaining and he finished with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Ian Clark hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 5:58 to play before Matt Barnes delivered a clutch basket.
James Harden had another tough shooting night for Houston, held to 17 points while going 4 for 18 from the floor and 2 of 9 from beyond the arc. He also had 12 rebounds and eight assists.
JaVale McGee contributed 13 points and a season-best five blocked shots off the bench in a 10th straight win for the Warriors, who are determined to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.