Sacramento Kings: Game 76 Preview at New Orleans Pelicans

Feb 12, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison (7) drives down the court ahead of New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 12, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison (7) drives down the court ahead of New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Sacramento Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 21, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward DeMarcus Cousins (0) celebrates after scoring and drawing foul during the fourth quarter of a game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Grizzlies 95-82. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward DeMarcus Cousins (0) celebrates after scoring and drawing foul during the fourth quarter of a game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Grizzlies 95-82. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

New Orleans Pelicans Scouting Report

The New Orleans Pelicans enter tonight’s game with a record of 32 wins and 43 losses and that currently places them tenth in the Western Conference standings.  They are an outside shot to make the playoffs as they are 4.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers with only 7 games remaining to play.

Last time out, the Pelicans hosted the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.  New Orleans was victorious 121-118 in that contest.  Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins both had big statistical performances in route to the Pelicans victory.  Below is a highlight video from that game to give you a glimpse at the Pelicans most recent form.

Watch out for the Boogie

The trade forced DeMarcus Cousins from the only professional basketball home he knew into an environment playing alongside another superstar on a team struggling to make the playoffs.  It would be an adjustment period for any person.

In his 14 games with the Pelicans, Cousins has averaged 22.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.1 blocks, and 1.9 three-pointers made per game.  Those are great numbers, but mostly worse than what he was producing in Sacramento.  Small sample size caveats clearly apply, but it stands to reason that playing with Anthony Davis requires both star players to give in a bit.

As for tonight, I expect Boogie to go off.  In an article that made the top headlines on ESPN, Cousins’ teammates have some interesting quotes and I feel very much the same.  He is going to be motivated to shove it in the Kings’ faces tonight and I expect his teammates to feed him the ball and let him dominate.  Expect a big DeMarcus Cousins performance like we grew accustomed to seeing during his Sacramento days.