DeMarcus Cousins breathes fire as Rookies make it two in a row
The monopolizing T-Mobile Rookie Challenge ended at Staples Center. Nerves were frayed. The ball was protected. Some sizzling defensive shots were played. Expectations reached all the way to the axle. It did not take long for the enthusiastic rookies to
conquer the experienced sophomores after a 148-140 thriller.
In a game where all eyes were on Blake Griffin to lead the Rookie front; DeMarcus Cousins exploded with a game-high 33 points and 14 rebounds. The 21-year-old power-forward Blake Griffin has recently been crowned the Western Conference Rookie of the Month
for his sizzling performance during January 2011.
James Harden did all he could as he led the sophomores by team-high 30 points while DeJuan Blair registered 28 points and pulled down game-high 15 rebounds in the defeat.
The hunters become the hunted
If anybody thought the sophomores were going to fall into a trap after they won the previous NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge for the first time since 2002, then those people were right.
The rookies thrashed the sophomores —without mercy or remorse. The rookies were up 2 points at the end of first half and led by as many as six points in the second half. For all intents and purposes, the game was over after 40 minutes.
As the sound of the buzzer could be heard, the contest officially kicked off. The Spurs centre DeJuan Blair scored the first basket of the contest for the sophomores. After that, the contest kept building with a slight difference of two points and was tied
at 30-30 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The Knicks guard Landry Fields then came off the bench with his tiebreaker free throw to give the rookies a single point lead. The game was again tied at 37-37 with 09:14 left in the half. Blair hit a driving
dunk shot to give the sophomores a 2-point lead. The Nets forward Derrick Favors hit a baseline jumper over Fields to tie the game at 39 apiece. The rookies got it defensively by the end of the first and went on a 6-0 run to take a 71-69 lead, heading into
the second.
Trailing by 2-point, Blair’s driving lay-up shot levelled the score at the 71-71. Rookies took a 73-71 lead on a big basket by the Kings centre DeMarcus Cousins. The Minnesota guard Wesley Johnson made one of two free throws to tie the game at 117-117, but
forward Serge Ibaka hit a 3-pointer shot to give the sophomores a 120-117 advantage. Cousins and Blair answered to again tie the game, but James Harden moved the sophomores ahead at 126-123 with a breath-taking three-pointer. With just 37 ticks remaining,
the rookies went on a 4-0 run to seal the contest at 148-140.
Tags: