Cake and candles are on the way. DeMarcus Cousins celebrated his 25th birthday in style, scoring 24 points to help USA White defeat Rudy Gay and USA Blue by the final score of 134-128 in the Las Vegas Team USA exhibition.
From the get-go, USA White ran the offense through Cousins. The starter missed his first shot, a baseline jumper, but got on the board when Andre Drummond goaltended his short look. The center added two dunks and a layup to score eight in the first quarter, and converted a reverse layup to total 10 points at the half.
Cousins missed his first two field goal attempts to begin the third, but answered with two coast-to-coast dunks to record 14 points heading into the fourth. The All-Star proceeded to score 10 points in the final period and eight within the last three minutes, dominating the offensive glass and showing off a few post moves.
The pivot wasn’t perfect, missing six 3’s in the contest. But when factoring a few assists and steals along with his work on the glass, he was arguably the most impactful player in the showcase.
For the losing squad, Sacramento Kings parter Rudy Gay had his moments as well. The forward notched his first points when he threw down a two-handed put-back he collected off his prior dunk attempt, entering the half with two points. Gay lit up the paint near the end of the third quarter, attacking the rim with a layup, dunk and and-1 basket to help offset some ill-advised deep 3’s. The 28-year-old finished with nine points and a couple assists.
Cousins and Gay never shared the floor.
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