Cousins found his home
From the league's no.1 center to a time without the ball, injuries destroyed Cousins, but he never gave up on himself. From the Warriors to the Lakers, from the Rockets to the Nuggets, Cousins became the homeless man of the league, but under the hands of his former mentor Malone, Cousins once again showed his value. Perhaps, he is no longer the league's top center, but the skinny camel is bigger than The Horse, and against the Golden State Warriors with weak interior lines, Cousins has helped the team withstand the pressure again and again while Jokic is resting.
But even so, the Denver Nuggets, which lacked major generals, still trailed the Golden State Warriors 1-3 by a large margin. The fifth game of the series, for the Nuggets, is undoubtedly a backwater battle, losing home, winning there is still a glimmer of life. In this situation, DeMarcus Cousins once again stepped forward.
Jokic foul trouble
At the beginning of the first quarter, the Warriors' five small lineups showed their strength, Poole and Klay and Wiggins each scored 6 points, and Curry drove full power, making 8 shots in a single quarter, with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Led by four people, the Warriors exploded for 30 points in a single quarter, while the Nuggets only scored 25 points, including Gordon with 12 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, and Jokic also had 6 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. After returning from the second quarter, Cousins came off the bench to play well, scoring 8 points and 3 rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting, and then Jokic came on with 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
A former league number one center and an active league number one center, Cousins and Jokic helped the Nuggets to a 48-48 draw at the end of halftime. In the second half, Jokic took 6 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, but this quarter received 4 fouls, there was no way, Malone could only replace Cousins again, but Cousins did not disappoint the Nuggets, 7 points and 1 rebound on 3-of-5 shooting, Barton also had 9 points and 1 assist, and at the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets successfully took an 8-point lead.
In the final quarter of the game, the Warriors immediately scored five consecutive points to narrow the gap, and after Jokic came on, he immediately received a fifth foul, and then Malone replaced Cousins again. Jokic scored four more points on 2-of-3 shooting in the quarter, but the Warriors completed a 7-0 comeback, jokic stepped forward and scored 10 consecutive points to help the team retain the suspense, but in the final moments, Curry ended the suspense with a layup. In the end, the Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 102-98 to give them a 3-1 lead in the series.
Cousins proves himself
The Nuggets lost the game and lost the series, which is expected for them, but this round of the series, Jokic is absolutely defeated. In this game, Jokic blasted down 30 points, 19 rebounds and 8 assists, shooting 12-of-18 from the field, what else could you ask for? Unfortunately, the teammates around him did not come forward, and the whole team shot 6 of 29 three-pointers, which was unbearable. The second-highest-scoring player, cousins on the bench, got 19 points and 4 rebounds.
It is worth mentioning that Cousins only played 15 minutes in this game, shooting 8 of 12 from the field and 2 of 3 from three-point range, and there is no doubt that in this series, Cousins once again proved himself that he belonged to this league. Steven Curry is really good, with 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, 5 of 11 three-pointers, Klay also has 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, Wiggins 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, Green 11 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks, and Payton Jr. on the bench also has 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.