Reaching the Western Conference postseason is still a mathematical possibility for his team, but on Wednesday night, DeMarcus Cousins sounded like he had an even loftier goal in mind. Following New Orleans’ 121-118 victory over Dallas – spearheaded by a combined 59 points and 29 rebounds from Cousins and Anthony Davis – the three-time All-Star discussed going against the grain of the current NBA trend of small lineups and perimeter-based attacks.
“I know it’s a small-ball era, but (Davis and Cousins are) not traditional big men,” Cousins said, after the Pelicans improved to 5-2 in their last seven games with both he and Davis in uniform. “We can kind of use that to our advantage. I think we have a chance to change things. To change the way the style of play of basketball is going right now. I think we’ve got a great chance of changing it. It’s just a matter of time.”
Through the first seven weeks of the pairing of Davis and Cousins, time has been perhaps the most pivotal factor in the results they’ve produced. Over the first seven games of the “Fire and Ice” duo, New Orleans went just 1-6 – the lone win was over the struggling Lakers – and was outscored by a total of 58 points. Starting with a March 11 overtime victory at Charlotte, however, the Pelicans have compiled the 5-2 mark with Davis/Cousins and generated a scoring margin of plus-38, highlighted by double-digit wins over Portland, Minnesota and Memphis.
Although Davis and Cousins initially appeared to be deferring to each other and taking turns as the focal point of the offense when they were paired together, lately they’ve both registered dominating numbers. Davis is averaging 28.3 points and 12.3 rebounds during the recent seven-game stretch, while Cousins is at 23.7 and 10.3 in the same categories. From an efficiency standpoint, Davis has shot 52.8 percent from the field in the last seven games with Cousins, including going 18/31, 11/16 and 14/24 nights vs. Charlotte, Minnesota and Houston, respectively. Cousins is at 45.2 percent from the field during the same stretch, but seems to benefiting at the three-point arc from the attention defenses must devote to Davis. Over the past three games, the former Sacramento standout is 11/23 on three-pointers, twice tying his career high for made treys in a game (5).
“Honestly, I think we’ve both eased up the pressure on each other,” Cousins said. “In the past, there were games where I felt like there were 100 people (defenders) hanging all over me. Since I’ve been here, I’m seeing new defensive schemes I’ve never seen in my career before. I know it’s had an effect on AD and vice versa. I definitely think we’ve eased up the pressure. We’re a little more free out there.”
There were several stretches Wednesday when Dallas used lineups with five three-point threats on the floor, which forces Cousins and Davis to extend defensively and often come out of the paint. Although that can be a challenge at times for some bigs who are accustomed to staying close to the basket at that end of the floor, Pelicans second-year head coach Alvin Gentry sounds like he has no intentions of making adjustments to the opponent’s lineups. Instead, the opposition will have to figure out how to slow down the versatile combo of 6-foot-11 All-Stars who can score in multiple ways.
“We’re not going to be a team that takes our bigs out just because (the opponent plays) a small lineup,” Gentry said after Wednesday’s win. “I don’t understand that, anyway. We’re going to try to take advantage of what we have versus what (the opponent is) trying to do offensively by having a smaller lineup.”
New Orleans (32-43) experienced some communication issues defensively while allowing Dallas to connect Wednesday on 14 three-pointers in 27 attempts, but the Pelicans are still figuring out some elements of their new team. Even while reconfiguring their lineups and roster since the February trade, New Orleans is seventh in the NBA in defensive efficiency (103.6 points allowed per 100 possessions) since the All-Star break. Cousins said he’s looking forward to the process of continuing to learn as a group, regardless of whether the final seven regular season games extends into a postseason trip.
“It’s definitely a lot easier now than it was the first couple of games I was here,” he said. “It’s coming along. We’re progressing. I think we’re getting better each game. I think that’s pretty obvious.
“Just keep building. I’m really looking forward to training camp. I think we can build something special. Just stay positive, keep moving forward. At the end of the day, if we don’t make the playoffs, we can still use this as an opportunity to learn one another and get better every game, to use this as a training camp before (fall 2017) training camp.”