DeMarcus Cousins Scored 55, Spit His Mouthpiece at the Blazers Bench, Got Un-Ejected

DeMarcus Cousins had an incredible game in a 126-121 Kings win over the Trail Blazers on Tuesday. Cousins finished with 55 points, making 17 of 28 shots. He was 16/17 from the free throw line and made 5 of 8 three-point attempts. He also had 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. He even had two technicals, one of which was rescinded after he ran to the locker room. It was, quite simply, the ultimate DeMarcus Cousins game.

The brief ejection took place when Cousins scored an and-1 and yelled at the Blazers bench and his mouthpiece came out. Only the honesty of Terry Stotts telling a referee that it wasn’t thrown saved Cousins. Stotts wasn’t sure if he spit it at the bench, but from a different angle… maybe.

One thing that we are sure of is that Cousins had a lot to say. Much of which really seemed to bother Meyers Leonard on a personal level.

In a postgame interview, Cousins was beside himself, calling pretty much everything ridiculous. It’s hard to tell exactly what he hopes the world will now see which apparently goes on on a nightly basis – physical play? refs out to get him? how good he is? – but it’s worth looking.

You really have to wonder how Cousins would be perceived if he were doing this at 7pm on a nightly basis in a city on the East Coast. In Sacramento, his antics are just a curiosity or an urban legend. “Did you hear what DeMarcus Cousins did last night?” Meanwhile, he’s third in the league in scoring (29.3), 11th in rebounding (10.8), and 7th (3.3) in assists among all power forwards and centers. Those numbers remain a footnote to his antics both on – and off – the court. Just don’t tell him I said that.