Cousins boogies his way to triple-double vs. Cavs

Pelicans win for third time in four games

NEW ORLEANS — DeMarcus Cousins came to the bench for the final time as the crowd rose to its feet. He exchanged high fives with Pelicans teammates and fans on the baseline, then motioned to the crowd with his raised right hand to keep the adulation coming.

If Cousins, Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday keep playing the way they did against LeBron James’ Cavaliers, there will be plenty more scenes like that.

Cousins had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Pelicans pulled away for a convincing 123101 victory over Cleveland on Saturday night.

“I enjoy winning. Don’t you?” Cousins said when asked about his interplay with the jubilant crowd. “If we play like this on a nightly basis, we’ve got a very good chance of being the team that we want to be.”

Davis added 30 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks to help New Orleans win for the third time in four games. New Orleans’ All-Star frontcourt tandem had help from the backcourt, too, with Holiday scoring 29 points and E’Twaun Moore 24 as the Pelicans shot better than 53 percent.

“We’re locked in as a unit. We feel like we can battle with the best of them. We’re starting to understand what it takes to win games,” said Cousins, who’s played in only 22 games with Davis since the trade that brought Cousins from Sacramento after last season’s All-Star Game.

“We’re still learning how to play with one another, but the ball movement’s been good lately. Defensively, we’ve been good.”

Cousins mostly scored on powerful inside moves, once dribbling through three converging defenders. He also tossed in the sporadic 3.

Kevin Love had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavs, who were without Derrick Rose and trailed most of the game. James had 18 points and Dwyane Wade 15 for Cleveland, which has lost three of four.

■ Thunder 101, Bulls 69 — At Chicago, Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points and Oklahoma City won its first road game. Russell Westbrook added 12 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists, and has now recorded a triple-double against every league opponent in his career.

■ Grizzlies 103, Rockets 89 — At Memphis, Tenn., Chandler Parsons finally gave Memphis fans what they’ve waited for, scoring 24 points on accurate shooting to lead the Grizzlies past Houston. Memphis had a 62-15 advantage in bench points.

■ 76ers 112, Mavericks 110 — At Dallas, Ben Simmons had 23 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds as Philadelphia earned its second win of the season. The 76ers won in Dallas for the first time since Jan. 29, 2005.

■ Celtics 96, Heat 90 — At Miami, Kyrie Irving scored nine of his 24 points in the final 2:03, and Boston extended its winning streak to four games. The Celtics beat Miami for the eighth consecutive time.

■ Jazz 96, Lakers 81 — At Salt Lake City, rookie Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 22 points and Utah snapped a two-game losing streak. Ricky Rubio scored a season-high 21 points for the Jazz.

■ Pistons 95, Clippers 87 — At Los Angeles, Andre Drummond had 15 points and 17 rebounds, Reggie Jackson added another 15 points and Detroit handed Los Angeles its first loss of the season.

■ Trail Blazers 114, Suns 107 —

At Portland, Ore., Damian Lillard scored 25 points, C.J. McCollum had 23 and Portland handed Phoenix its first loss under interim coach Jay Triano.

Gerald Herbert The Associated Press New Orleans Pelicans forward DeMarcus Cousins, left, challenges Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) as he goes to the basket in New Orleans on Saturday.