New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins was involved in a very physical battle with Houston Rockets forward Ryan Anderson in Friday night's 117-107 loss.
The big man was in the middle of two reviewable plays that ended in common fouls but thought the game became chippy because of the way the officials chose to handle it, changing the pace of the game.
“Flop, review, flop, review, flop, review,” Cousins told Justin Verrier of ESPN, summarizing the altercation.
Anderson was called for a foul with 3:16 left in the fourth while attempting to deny Cousins position in the post. As Cousins rose to attempt a bunny shot near the basket, his left elbow caught Anderson square in the chin.
“This is the second time in a week my lip gets split open and I got elbowed in the face,” Anderson said. “This has been a week of me getting hit in the face. It's a part of it. It's good.”
“I want to be physical. With DeMarcus, he's a guy, he's such an elite player, when he gets frustrated it's when he's at his worst. It's part of the game plan to get DeMarcus frustrated and the moment he realizes that he'll be that much better of a player. You want to get into him. You want to make him frustrated and that's what I tried to do tonight. If it takes a few hits to the face, that's what it takes.”
As the game wore on, Cousins was visibly more frustrated with the officiating, as it's often the case, but thought the reviews were unnecessary.
“They never found anything, but they kept running back to review,” Cousins said. “He just kept falling. He did it the entire game. He just flopped. He didn't want to defend — that's one thing. He's known for not wanting to defend, so he just falls. It's terrible, man.”
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