Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins played one hell of a game on Thursday night, but things ended on a sour note him and his team. The mercurial young star scored a game-high 29 points, shot 9-14 from the field, set a personal season-high for free throw attempts (11-17) and chipped in nine rebounds and four assists over 39 minutes of action, but he was ejected from the contest for a flagrant-2 foul with 42 seconds remaining in overtime and the Kings eventually fell to the Mavericks, 117-112.
DeMarcus Cousins picks up a Flagrant-2 in overtime
DeMarcus Cousins scored a game-high 29 points on Thursday night against the Mavericks, but he was ejected from the contest in overtime for what officials ruled was a flagrant-2 foul.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The fact that Cousins was slapped with a flagrant-2 foul by officials came as a bit of a surprise. After the Kings blew a 17-point third-quarter lead and pushed the game into overtime on a clutch three by Isaiah Thomas with under 10 seconds remaining in regulation, Cousins got off to a hot start in OT. He pumped in six quick points on 3-of-4 shooting to keep Sacramento in the game, but with the team down 109-111 he got caught in a loose-ball scrum and tossed a forearm at Vince Carter on his way up.
Cousins did not throw an elbow, and he clearly regretted his contact with Carter almost immediately, but the referees upgraded the violation from a flagrant-1 to a flagrant-2 and tossed the leading scorer from the game. Cousins had already accumulated five fouls over his first 39 minutes, so the final penalty would have disqualified him either way, but after the game the big man made sure to emphasize his lack of harmful intent:
“I swear to God I didn’t try to do that. I’m just tired of being in these situations,” Cousins said. “I’m pretty sure my reputation will come into play with the decision, but hopefully they’ll realize it wasn’t intentional.”
DeMarcus has earned his reputation as an emotional player who is prone to drawing technical fouls -- Matt Barnes (9 technicals) is the only player in the NBA with more technical fouls than Cousins (8) -- but this is DMC's first-and-only flagrant, and his second ejection of the year. Don't let the convenient narrative on Cousins expand his rep beyond what he deserves, and take a look at the foul to get a better idea of the context.
Keep in mind that the NBA league office reviews all flagrant fouls, and it considers the following factors in determining the ultimate classification of the foul and whether a fine will be imposed: “how hard the foul was; the outcome of the foul (e.g., whether it led to an altercation); and the level of the injury sustained by the player who was fouled.”
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