Rockets spoil welcoming party
Williams leads blitz from 3-point range to rout Cousins, Pelicans.
Mardi Gras will roll on. The Houston Rockets could not shoot that out of New Orleans. The rest of the Big Easy Boogie party planned for Thursday, however, was blasted by the Rockets’ usual waves of 3-pointers.
The Pelicans rolled out their celebrated addition, DeMarcus Cousins, but the Rockets did just as they promised, sticking to what they do and seeing if New(-look) Orleans could keep up.
With the Rockets reaching 100 points for the ninth time before the fourth quarter, they led by as many as 35 points and then cruised to a show-stealing 129-99 rout of the Pelicans at Smoothie King Arena.
The Rockets’ 22 120-point games with 23 games remaining are their most since 23 in the 198586 season — and more than often enough to expect to keep pouring it on, no matter who shared the court.
Cousins did not disappoint, but he did not dominate, either, finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds. However, he scored 13 in the fourth quarter, when the Rockets were already sitting four starters for the rest of the night.
The Rockets’ new addition matched him and was more of a sensation.
Though Lou Williams was initially not expected to play, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni changed course to put this week’s acqui- sition on the floor just to “get his feet wet.” Williams hit 3-pointers with his first two touches, and that was all D’Antoni needed to see.
Williams kept firing away until he reached 22 points in 20 minutes, matching his season high of six 3-pointers with 4½ minutes to play. He matched his career high with his seventh 3-pointer in the final minute, giving him 27 points to lead the Rockets in scoring.
Eric Gordon, the NBA’s second-leading scorer off the bench, nearly matched him, getting 19 points as the Rockets had more scorers in double figures in their second unit (four) than the Pelicans had in the game (three).
Little seemed to change with the Pelicans after all, with Anthony Davis still a marvel (29 points, nine rebounds) and Cousins a fine running mate, but New Orleans still doesn’t have enough defense or talent around them.
The Rockets did not seem very different either, making 20 of 51 3s to dominate the game.
From the start, there were roars with every move Cousins made, boos every time Gordon touched the ball and a sense that everything had changed for the Pelicans.
Butthe Rockets continued with their “see it, 3-it” mentality, and New Orleans had no answer.