SteemSports Presenter:@hogan22
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
The Houston Rockets traveled to New Orleans on Friday night to take on the Pelicans in a potential Western Conference playoff match up. Houston comes into the game with the second-best record in the Western Conference while the Pelicans hold the sixth position and carry a four-game win streak.
The Pelicans, Anthony Davis provided the bulk of his team’s offense, scoring 16 points in the first frame, but his team still trailed by one at the end of the first quarter. His energy flowed into the second period as his team outscored Houston by fourteen in the period to take a 66-53 lead into the locker room.
In the third quarter, the Pelicans built their lead to 21 by the midway point. The Rockets provide a 20-9 run of their own to end the quarter with most of the offense provided by Chris Paul’s 10 third-quarter points, cutting their deficit to 10.
The Rockets continued to chip away at the Pelicans lead, finally tying the game at 104 with just under three minutes to play in the game. With the game tied, again, at 109, the Pelicans, Justin Holiday, hit a driving floater. On their next possession, E’Twaun Moore attempted a baseline jump shot. Demarcus Cousins positioned himself for an offensive rebound on the shot, grabbed the rebound and finished with a layup and foul to take a four-point lead with fifteen seconds left in the game. Cousins missed his free throw and, attempting to follow his miss, he turned his ankle on another players foot, going down to the ground in obvious pain. The game stopped as Cousins was helped off the floor. Cousins was later diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon and will likely miss the remainder of the season.
With eight seconds left, Chris Paul shot a three pointer and was fouled. Paul made all three free throws to pull within one but that’s as close as the Rockets would get as the Pelicans survived the Houston comeback to win their fifth consecutive game 115-112.
Before Cousins’ injury, he was able to accumulate a triple-double (15p, 13r, 11a). His running mate, Anthony Davis, added 27 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks. The Rockets offense was led by Chris Paul’s 38 points, Eric Gordon’s 23 points, and James Harden’s 23 points and 11 assists in the loss.
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I'm so bummed about this, people never come back the same after an Achilles. I hope his career comes back to the amazing place it is now...
Im so sad about this too. I even woke up this morning just not wanting it to be true. He seemed like he was in a better place mentally than he had ever been, and he was playing such great basketball. I wish him the best but like you said its a hard injury to come back from.
I know!! he finally had a top level talent in Anthony Davis to play beside. They were both starting to gel, and they need each other to succeed on this team. Man, I'm a Laker fan and I just think of how Kobe never was the same on a consistent basis after the Achilles injury. Demarcus is younger so I hope that helps him come back to playing at the high level he's at
Although Achilles injuries are tough to recover from, Cousins should not be as affected as much as Kobe was.
Kobe relied on his explosiveness which is what players usually lack after this injury. Cousins can use his body and play below the rim since he doesn’t rely on his first step or quick-twitch movements.
True I didn't consider that. He might be a bit slower but hopefully he comes back the 100% in due time
A tripple double and not even finishing the game. Impressive !
Absolutely devastating for the Pelicans. They were playing good ball (27-21, 6th seed in the West) and are one of the more intriguing teams with both Davis and Cousins. I hope that they can still hang on to make the playoffs because I really enjoy watching Davis play, he's gonna have to step up BIG time, along with Holiday as well. DeMarcus will be back as the #1 center in the NBA next year. Thankfully, I don't have him on any of my fantasy teams, I feel bad for those who do!
That was so sad, hope the best for him
Best scorer i've ever seen, seems like the guy scores completely at will/effortlessly. Hopefully he comes back healthy. That's not an easy injury for an nba player to come back from.