Beijing time on March 5, the NBA regular season continued, the Nuggets home 116-101 victory over the Rockets, this battle Jokic absent, Cousins started the game, and handed over a "dream back to the peak" performance, he shot 10 of 14, 3 of 3 three-pointers, 8 of 9 free throws, got 31 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.
It should be said that all this was only done in 23 minutes and 33 seconds of playing time, including the third quarter, Cousins only played 4 minutes to score 11 points in a single quarter, and he became the player with the fewest gametime in the history of the Nuggets to score 30 points in a single game.
For many players, especially stars, a 30+ may not be news, but for Cousins, he has waited too long for this game.
You know, the last time Cousins scored 30+ in the game was back on January 23, 2018, a full 1502 days ago, when Cousins also played for the Pelicans, shooting 13 of 29, 5 of 11 three-pointers, 13 of 14 free throws, and slashed a super triple-double with 44 points, 23 rebounds and 10 assists in the game against the Bulls.
At the time, Cousins was still the darling of the league, he was one of the league's best centers, and in that game, he became the fifth player in history to win the "40+20+10" in a single game after Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Abbay and Elgin Belle — the first four, each of which was a superstar of their own era.
But, who would have thought that less than a week after this epic game, Cousins suffered a rupture in the Achilles tendon in the game against the Rockets, and this injury also became a career turning point, not only the big contract was gone, but in the past four years, he also switched between the Warriors, Lakers, Rockets, Clippers, Bucks, Nuggets six teams.
We will not dwell on the intermediate process, but let's talk about Cousins now.
In the 12 games for the Nuggets, Cousins averaged 9.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks per game, shooting 43.0%/37.0%/73.2% of the three and shooting 54.8% of the actual shooting.
Not particularly good, but what you need to know is that Cousins has very limited playing time, averaging only 14.6 minutes per game, which translates to every 36 minutes, Cousins' average is 23.5 points, 16.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.2 blocks, which is not at all at the top.
So at least on the offensive end, Cousins proved that as long as given time, he can hand over beautiful data, and on the defensive end, after joining the Nuggets, Cousins' performance is not bad, and the two-point shooting rate of the players he is in place has dropped from 52.5% to 47.2%, and the three-point shooting rate has dropped from 31.8% to 25.0%.
In fact, Before joining the Nuggets, Cousins was already doing very well with the Bucks, when he played 17 games, averaged 16.9 minutes per game, had 9.1 points and 5.8 rebounds, and shot from 49.5 percent to 45.9 percent from the shooting range of opposing players.
However, the Bucks are a team that is better at playing fast counterattacks, Cousins's knees and Achilles tendons have been seriously injured, the speed is greatly affected, in order to more perfect offensive and defensive performance, the Bucks chose to cut it.
In contrast, the Nuggets are different, the Nuggets will have more position battles, so Cousins played more handily. The data can also prove his role in the Nuggets today, since joining the Nuggets:
When Cousins was on the floor, the Nuggets' offensive and defensive efficiency was 112.1/99.2, and the net victory over the opponent was 12.9 points
- Cousins was not on the floor, and the Nuggets' offensive and defensive efficiency was 115.2/111.0, and the net victory over the opponent was 4.2 points
The most direct embodiment is the record, Cousins played in 12 games, the Nuggets record 11 wins and 1 loss, and Cousins did not play 6 games, the Nuggets 1 win 5 losses.
Of course, Cousins still has some irreparable shortcomings, his efficiency is not outstanding, but he needs to hold the ball on the offensive end, the defensive end is slow, and he needs teammates to assist, these shortcomings are not accepted by many teams in today's era, but under his mentor Malone, it is quite suitable as Jokic's replacement.
It is worth mentioning that Malone has praised his beloved apprentice many times this season, and after this game, he said again: "I love Marcus Cousins, I am happy for him, the first 30+ after 2018, no one can replace Jokic, but Cousins is really great, if he can play like today, you don't have to keep Jokic on the field... I was his supporter and I reported his name to management. ”
To be honest, there are many reasons for the birth of this game, including Jokic's absence, the opponent is a weak team like the Rockets, and it is not realistic to expect Cousins to play this kind of performance all the time, it is difficult for him to return to the original level, but it is really possible to stand firm in the Nuggets and compete for a championship.