DeMarcus Cousins has huge double-double in Pelicans' upset of Grizzlies
DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis have both registered double-doubles in the New Orleans Pelicans’ 95-82 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. This was a crucial win for the Pelicans squad still hoping to notch a playoff spot this 2016-2017 NBA Season.
Cousins had his, arguably, best game in Pelicans uniform on Tuesday night. The former Sacramento Kings franchise player scored 41 points and completed a huge double-double with 17 rebounds plus 2 steals and 3 blocks. Frontcourt partner Davis also had his own double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds, per ESPN.
The Pelicans improved to 30-41 for the year, in 11th place in the Western Conference. New Orleans has also won three in a row and are now three and a half games behind the eighth placed team Denver Nuggets.
However, the Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks sport 32-37 and 30-39 records respectively. This means that if the Pelicans want to make the playoffs, they’ll hope that these three teams also start losing in the final weeks of the regular season.
Cousins and Davis got nice help from their role players versus the Grizzlies. Jrue Holiday had 11 points and 6 assists, while Jordan Crawford scored 10 points off the bench. While other players struggled with their shooting, both Cousins and Davis shot well from the field. Cousins shot 14-of-27 field goals while Davis was at 9-of-18 field goals.
New Orleans shot just 39.8 percent from the field but they held the Grizzlies to 40.5 percent shooting and forced 15 turnovers. Memphis also shot badly from the three-point area, going just 9-of-35 for 25.7 percent. The Pelicans outrebounded the Grizzles, 51-42 and 12-5 on the offensive boards.
The Grizzlies were missing top defensive player Tony Allen, who was rested by head coach David Fizdale. Mike Conley led the scoring for Memphis with 16 points and added 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Marc Gasol had 10 points and 8 rebounds. This could be a crucial loss for the Grizzlies as well.
With the defeat to the Pelicans, they dropped to 40-31 and now in seventh place. They are half a game behind Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Gasol’s and Westbrook’s teams are trying to avoid the seventh seed and a first round match-up with either the San Antonio Spurs or Golden State Warriors.
The Pelicans will try to stretch their winning streak to four games when they face the Houston Rockets in their next game. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies had a four-game winning streak snapped and will face West rivals Spurs in their next match-up.
