Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins to miss next two games with Achilles injury

DeMarcus Cousins left Sunday’s game early with an Achilles injury, and will miss the next two games as a result of that as well. 

If there has been any single player that has had a strong impact on the Sacramento Kings throughout their rebuilding stage the past few years, it’s DeMarcus Cousins. Losing him for any amount of time puts this young roster at a disadvantage, and it looks as if the next two games they will have to figure out how to live without him.

Cousins left during the first half of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, a game in which the Kings nearly escaped from with a win (they lost 114-109). Even before he left the game, without finishing out the first half, he nearly sported a double-double, contributing 13 points and nine rebounds.

In the first three games of the season, Cousins has started all of them. Within these, he’s averaged 11.0 rebounds per game and 22.0 points. The next best contributor as far as points on the team has been Rudy Gay with 18.3.

Although losing Cousins may be seen as a bad thing, it could end up being good for the team. There’s lots of players on the team looking for a chance to breakout, including guys like Rajon Rondo, and maybe even rookie Willie Cauley-Stein who will get many more minutes as a result of Cousins’ absence. So far, Cauley-Stein has averaged 20.3 minutes per game and 9.0 points.

Additionally, it could be much worse for Cousins. Two games is not bad at all, and it’s all at the prevention of further injuring his achilles. It’s better that he rest shortly now rather than resting for a long period of time later because of a worse injury sustained from overplaying.