The Denver Nuggets have relied on MVP candidate Nikola Jokic heavily to keep them afloat while key players Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. have been sidelined throughout the 2021-22 NBA season. With Jokic sidelined due to a non-COVID-related illness, DeMarcus Cousins stepped up in a major way.
With a game-high 31 points, Cousins led the Nuggets to a 116-101 win over the Houston Rockets to help Denver improve to 37-26 on the season. He played with a focus to “make the right play every possession” knowing he was filling in for an MVP.
”I was trying to take the best shots, trying to make the right play every possession,” Cousins said, via NBA.com. ”I play the game the right way. It was very satisfying and it’s even better when you have a coach that believes in you, an organization that believes in you, and teammates that have your back. That’s all I’ve been searching for on this journey. I’ve found that right now and like I said earlier, I’m going to leave everything on the floor.”
Cousins, quite frankly, put Christian Wood in hell throughout the game using his strength and finesse to get buckets in the paint. He has struggled to guard power players in the paint throughout his NBA career and Cousins sure put that on full display.
As the featured player in the Nuggets’ offense for this game, Cousins made the most of his chances to get downhill and bully his matchup. Take this possession, after the inbound pass, the Rockets defense is focused on the weak-side pindown as Eric Gordon had his back completely turned to the ball—allowing Cousins to get downhill aggressively for the and-one instead of executing the DHO.
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Cousins had the opportunity to show off what makes him one of the rare big men in the NBA with his combination of being a power player in the paint and also having perimeter shot creation chops. Between converting a catch-and-shoot look on the move out of an off-ball screening action and getting to a stepback from deep, Cousins truly did a little bit of everything against the Rockets.
Cousins checked out of the game at the 4:43 mark of the third quarter and received a standing ovation from the home crowd at Ball Arena after having led the Nuggets to a 103-89 lead. Denver’s lead never was cut within single digits for the remainder of the game.
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‘They had the lead the whole game,” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said. ”This is a game where you’ve got to come in here and take it from them. You’ve got to disrupt their rhythm somehow. Of course, we’re in the game but it’s a different kind of energy and effort to really try to win the game and we just didn’t have that tonight.”
The Denver Nuggets envisioned a big impact from DeMarcus Cousins when he was signed as a midseason acquisition. In the unfortunate event when Nikola Jokic is unable to play, that’s the time for the former NBA All-Star to do what he does best.
