Cousins, Kings roll into Utah to face Jazz (Dec 21, 2016)
SALT LAKE CITY -- Once DeMarcus Cousins gets unleashed on offense, there are few defenses that can figure out how to restrain him. Cousins has a knack for dominating in so many ways, it can be scary for another team experiencing the other side of it.
Cousins made a statement on how tough he can be to handle at times in leading Sacramento to a 126-121 victory over Portland on Tuesday night. The Kings center poured in a season-high 55 points while adding 13 rebounds and three blocks. He went 17 of 28 from the field and 16 of 17 from the free throw line.
Cousins averaged 35.3 points and 11.3 rebounds while leading Sacramento to three wins in its last four games.
"He's a tough matchup for a lot of teams," Kings coach Dave Joerger told reporters before Sacramento played at Utah two weeks ago. "Coaching against him, we always thought every year he just gets better and better. Now getting to coach him every single day, his talent level is fantastic."
Cousins may be looking to make another statement when Sacramento (11-17) returns to Salt Lake City to face the Jazz for the second time in 11 days. Utah limited him to 16 points on 7-of-22 shooting and is the only team to hold Cousins to fewer than 20 points in the Kings' last 13 games.
Utah found a perfect formula for limiting the damage he could do. The Jazz forced Cousins away from the basket and kept him off the free throw line.
"I could have played better," Cousins said after the game. "That's the bottom line. I didn't think I completed plays I should have (against the Jazz). When I have nights like this, we don't have a good chance of winning."
Utah endured one of its sloppiest offensive games of the season in that previous matchup with the Kings. The Jazz gave up a season-high 22 turnovers. Those mistakes led to a season-high 36 points off of turnovers for Sacramento.
It still wasn't enough for Sacramento to overcome a dismal fourth quarter in a 104-84 loss. The Kings scored only eight points on 3-of-22 shooting over the final 12 minutes. Sacramento opened each half with big runs to take a lead, but could not shake the pesky Jazz.
"We guarded," forward Gordon Hayward said following the game. "They got nothing easy. It seemed like a lot of the shots were contested. That's just what happened. Then we were able to get the ball up the court and they weren't set. We got some good looks. People knocked down timely threes."
Utah (18-11) looks to recapture some lost momentum after falling flat in a 104-74 loss to Golden State on Tuesday night. The Jazz finished with a season-low in points and shot 35.5 percent from the field. Their loss snapped a three-game road winning streak.
Rudy Gobert was the only Utah starter to finish in double-figures against the Warriors. He totaled 11 points and 16 rebounds to notch his eighth consecutive double-double.
