Cousins’ stint with Rockets over
The Rockets waived veteran center DeMarcus Cousins on Tuesday.
The move came after a mutual decision was made between the team and the fourtime All-Star to part ways, according to reports.
Cousins, 30, plans to explore interest from other teams. His veterans minimum salary of $2.3 million was guaranteed by the Rockets last week.
In 25 games for the Rockets this season, Cousins averaged 9.6 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting only 37.6% from the floor.
Injuries have wreaked havoc with Cousins’ career in recent seasons. He ruptured his Achilles tendon during the 2017-18 season while with the Pelicans. Cousins then signed with the Warriors but tore his quadriceps muscle in the 2018-19 season. He joined the Lakers for the 2019-20 campaign but tore his ACL and didn’t play.
College basketball: The Big 12 scheduled a dozen makeup games next week in the break the conference had left open for such games before the start of postseason tournament play. No. 2 Baylor, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 10 West Virginia, No. 14 Texas and No. 18 Texas Tech all will play three games next week before the Big 12 tournament is played March 11-14 in Kansas City. Baylor on Tuesday had its first game in three weeks after COVID-19 issues in the program.
Golf: The PGA Championship will cap attendance at 10,000 spectators per round due to COVID-19 concerns when it’s played on The Ocean Course in in Kiawah Island, South Carolina from May 20-23.
NHL: Sabres defenseman William Borgen will miss up to two months with a broken right forearm, further depleting team’s injury-thinned blue line. The news of Borgen’s injury comes a day after the Sabres announced that veteran defenseman Jake McCabe will miss up to eight months after tearing two ligaments and damaging the meniscus in his right knee. The already was playing without top defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who tested positive for COVID19 three weeks ago.
Soccer: Olivier Giroud’s bicycle-kick goal in the 68th minute awarded after video review gave English Premier League club Chelsea a 1-0 victory over Spanish league leader Atlético Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League last 16 match. Atlético was the home team but the match was played in Bucharest, Romania, because of travel restrictions preventing visitors from Britain entering Spain. The second leg will be contested March 17 in London. In UCL other action, Bayern Munich defeated host Lazio 4-1.
Women’s basketball: Senior Katie Benzan made a school-record nine 3s and scored a career-high 29 points to lead No. 8 Maryland to a 111-93 victory over visiting Iowa. Hawkeyes freshman Caitlin Clark was equally impressive and made nine 3s, one shy of a program record, and scored 29 of her 34 points in the first half. Clark has scored 30 or more points nine times, the most in NCAA women’s basketball. The Terrapins’ 68 first-half points were the most scored in Big Ten history. Diamond Miller had 27 points and Ashley Owusu added 24 points and 12 assists for the Terrapins (17-2, 13-1 Big Ten).