COUSINS IS KING OF SACRAMENTO
DeMarcus Cousins finished with a seasonhigh 55 points and a three-point play with 35 seconds left, following a short-lived ejection, lifting the Sacramento Kings to a 126-121 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
The Kings forward scored on a driving layup and then appeared to receive his second technical foul when he shouted at the Portland players and his mouthpiece flew toward the Blazers’ bench. Cousins sprinted off the court into the locker room, but returned moments later.
He came back to applause, made a free throw, then blocked a Portland shot to help the Kings clinch the victory.
Cousins’ 55 points fell one shy of his career high and came during his first home game since a controversial run-in with a Sacramento sports reporter landed him a $50,000 fine.
Cousins became the first player in Sacramento history to have multiple 55-point games, but he didn’t want to talk about that immediately after the game. He ranted instead about the officials giving him a technical foul, ejecting him and then rescinding it after determining his mouthpiece fell out.
Referee Brian Forte said he initially thought Cousins threw the mouthpiece into the stands.
“I conferred with my partners and they confirmed that he did not throw the mouthpiece,” he said.
Portland’s Meyers Leonard said he was the object of Cousins’ outburst.
Cousins blocked three shots in the game, moving him past current Kings general manager Vlade Divac into third place on the team’s alltime list with 524 blocks. Cavs down Bucks Elsewhere in Milwaukee, LeBron James hit a 33-footer with 24 seconds left in overtime en route to a 34-point night as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114108.
The Cavaliers also got 28 from Kyrie Irving and 15 off the bench from Channing Frye. Jabari Parker led Milwaukee with 30 points, while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 25.
In Houston, Patty Mills hit a three-pointer with 12 seconds left as the San Antonio Spurs erased a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit en route to a 102-100 win over the Houston Rockets.
Houston had its 10game winning streak snapped. The Rockets also missed 31 of 38 three-point attempts. The Rockets’ streak of games with at least 10 three-pointers made ended at 27.