Rewind: Cousins Fouls Out in ‘unbelievable' Fashion, Kings Lose to Heat

That one stings. 

After losing their 15th straight in Miami, the Sacramento Kings might just want to burn the tape. Poor 3-point defense put them in a hole. A bad call cost them a three point lead in the final 30 seconds. Their final shot attempt in regulation was a 25-footer from Rudy Gay, even though they had 9.8 seconds to set up something better. And the overtime session? A 17-5 trouncing by the home team.

If there is one takeaway from Tuesday night’s 108-96 loss to the Heat, it’s that no one is going to hand the Kings anything. If they want to win on the road in hostile environments, they are going to have to be nearly perfect.

Through 36 minutes, DeMarcus Cousins was perfect in one category. He had eaten Hassan Whiteside for lunch and didn’t even have a foul to show for it. But then the fourth quarter started.

Cousins continued his wrecking ball work on the league’s best shot blocker, scoring 13 points in the fourth on 4-of-5 shooting. But with those points came a series of questionable foul calls.

The Kings’ star big man picked up his first foul 41 seconds into the fourth period. After Cousins blocked Whiteside, the Heat’s 7-footer grabbed the rebound. The video shows Whiteside switch pivot feet multiple times before Cousins is eventually called for a foul.

An offensive foul a minute 35 into the period was curious at best. Cousins was locked up with a defender while trying to get into post position. He was then hit by another Heat player and the whistle blew. Two defenders draped all over him and the call was an offensive foul.

Cousins’ final foul came with 30.6 seconds remaining in the fourth when he took Whiteside off the dribble. The replay clearly shows the former Kings big man reach across Cousins' body for the foul. Cousins pushed Whiteside’s arm down as he continued to the hoop for a lay-in and expected trip to the line.

Official Josh Tiven saw it another way, taking the basket off the board and sending Cousins to the bench with his sixth and final foul, instead of Whiteside who was also sitting on five personals. Six fouls in the fourth for the NBA’s best post player.

It’s not unprecedented. Nine-time All-Star Chris Paul picked up six fouls in the fourth quarter of a game in November of 2012. Big man Andre Drummond accomplished the feat as well in 2014. But that doesn’t make it any less shocking.

“Very remarkable, unbelievable,” Joerger told media members following the game. “I just watched them. Unbelievable. That’s all I can say. I can’t say anything about it. I don’t understand.”

Joerger kept his money in his pocket instead of handing it to the NBA. But the frustration was palpable on the face of the Kings’ new coach.

“Truth be, in my opinion, Carmelo (Anthony), DeMarcus, physical guys, Kawhi (Leonard), LeBron (James), they create a lot of contact, so they’re difficult to officiate,” Joerger continued. “There’s no question about it. That’s all I can comment.”

Cousins sprinted to the other end of the floor in disbelief, avoiding picking up a fourth technical foul in five games this season. He took his seat on the bench, shaking his head. It’s from there that he watched his team fall apart in the overtime session.

“Good, hard, competitive game,” Cousins told reporters after the game, clearly watching his words closely.

The overtime collapse was horrific to watch, but almost expected. Sacramento had put in the work during overtime to come away with the win, but without Cousins to share the scoring load, they had little chance of success.

Miami hit 6-of-9 from the field in the extra frame, including a perfect 3-for-3 from deep. They outrebounded, outhustled and outplayed the defeated Kings to the tune of 17-5.

It’s another learning experience for the Kings. What is becoming abundantly clear is that they need someone other than Cousins or Gay to start figuring out the offensive system.

Arron Afflalo had his best game in a Kings uniform. His 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting marked the first time this season the veteran shooting guard had scored in double-figures, despite averaging nearly 32 minutes a night as a starter.  

Gay continued his impressive early season play, pouring in 30 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort. While he missed the game winner in regulation, his personal 7-0 in the fourth gave the Kings a fighting chance.

While he watched the end of the game from the bench, Cousins still managed to drop in 30 points, grab seven rebounds and hand out four assists in the loss.

“Those our two main guys, that’s the way it’s set up right now for those guys to excel on the offensive end,” Afflalo said. “The other guys have to figure out how to pick their spots.”

But the trio needed someone else to step forward. Ben McLemore, Ty Lawson, Garrett Temple and Matt Barnes combined to shoot 3-of-25 from the field for a total of seven points in roughly 108 minutes of floor time.

The Kings are back at it Thursday night in Orlando where they will attempt to move back to .500 on the season. The Magic are 1-3 on the season, but they are fresh off a 103-101 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.  
 

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