DEMARCUS DROPS ‘DOUBLE-DIME’ ON BLAZERS; LEBRON MOVES UP SCORING LADDER

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.

“It is ridiculous,” he com- plained. “It is obvious what’s being done out there. I hope the world can see now what’s really going on out here.”

In Milwaukee, LeBron James hit a 33-footer with 24 seconds left in overtime en route to a 34point night as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-108.

James moved past Moses Malone into eighth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 27,442 points. Malone had 27,409 points.

In Oakland, California, Stephen Curry scored 25 points with four treys while Kevin Durant had 22 points as Golden State whipped Utah, 104-74.

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.