New Orleans (WGNO) — DeMarcus Cousins’ debut with the Pelicans didn’t go as they would have hoped, as New Orleans fell at home to the Rockets 129-99. Cousins finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, in front of an enthusiastic crowd, which gave the new Pelican a warm welcome to the Smoothie King Center.
“The energy in the building was amazing,” Cousins said. “The crowd was into the game. It was basically everything I expected. Did we get the results we wanted? No. We’re going to take the negatives and positives out of this game and we’re going to learn from them.”
One of those positives was a game-high 29 points from Anthony Davis, but a big negative was 20 Pelicans turnovers, which could be attributed to the reoccurring theme since the trade– that it’s going to take some time for this new group to find their chemistry.
“I thought [Cousins] did some good things,” said Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “Obviously we’ve got to get those guys working in unison. He’s only had one practice.”
Houston did their part from the perimeter, finishing with 20 three-pointers. They were led by their newest member, Lou Williams, who had 27 points, including a 7-11 performance beyond the arc. Eric Gordon added 19 points in his return to New Orleans.
Another hit to the Pelicans was that Omri Casspi suffered a broken thumb in his first game with the team.
The Pelicans (23-35) travel to take-on the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.