Triple-Double Watch Week 15: Say it ain’t so, Cousins
Welcome to Triple-Double Watch, a weekly check-in on everyone’s favorite arbitrary milestone of round, base-ten numbers.
There were seven triple-doubles this week, with big nights from the usual suspects. Interestingly enough, five of those seven came over a two-day stretch that included a busy Friday and Saturday. One of the seven guys surely would trade his TD in return for being healthy. Too bad we don’t have that power here.
Poor DeMarcus Cousins. We typically don’t start these posts with pity, but the ultra-talented big man was lost for the season with a ruptured left Achilles tendon Friday, and it happened with 12 seconds remaining in the Pelicans’ signature victory over the Rockets on national TV.
It sucks for so many reasons, as if a torn Achilles wasn’t enough by itself. New Orleans was really rounding into form with wins in seven of its last eight and occupying the seventh spot in the Western Conference standings. Cousins had just been voted into the All-Star game, the performance marked Cousins’ second triple-double in his last three games, and most costly of all, he will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
This season, Cousins had been averaging career highs in rebounds, assists, and minutes, although he was turning the ball over at a rate of 5.0 times per game, also a career-high. Unfortunately, his recovery is expected to take somewhere between six and 10 months, leaving potential suitors in somewhat of a precarious situation. For now, Cousins ranks fourth in triple-doubles this season, with seven others around the league needing just one to catch him at three apiece.
When Cousins recorded a triple-double Friday night, he actually became the third TD man of the night, joining LeBron James, who dropped 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists (but also 10 turnovers to complete the fake quadruple-double) in a win over Indiana, and Marc Gasol, who lost to Blake Griffin and the Clippers (fun fact: the Grizzlies were the second-to-last team to face the Clippers before the former No. 1 overall pick was shipped to Detroit) but turned in 13 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and five blocks. Man, that previous sentence was packed with so much information, and this one was not.
In Gasol’s loss to the Clippers, Lou Williams went for 40 points, marking his seventh January 2018 game with 30 points or more. James’ triple-double against the Pacers was his eighth of the season but the first of the calendar year, with the previous one coming nearly one full month before in Sacramento.
With James’ triple-double, he trimmed his TD deficit to Russell Westbrook to six…but only for one day. On Saturday, Westbrook scored 31 on 22 shot attempts and only needed four free throws to do it. The TD king impressively nearly achieved another one the very next night, falling just one rebound short. But the news wasn’t all bad for Westbrook, who led his team to its eight straight victory with 37 points and 14 assists. Although he took 33 shots against Philadelphia (again), the frenetic point guard committed just a single turnover.
Westbrook’s league-leading 15th triple-double was actually his first since Jan. 7 when OKC was defeated in Phoenix. Since that point, the Thunder have won eight of 10, and Westbrook has been excellent, averaging 29.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, 9.9 assists, 2.1 steals, and 4.5 turnovers per game. He’s also shooting 49.1 percent from the field over that stretch, a vast improvement over his 43.4 percent accuracy through the Thunder’s opening 40 games.
It remains to be seen whether Nikola Jokic will be able to match his six TD total from last season. Regardless, he’s trending in a positive direction with two of those in January and averages of 15.7 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 6.9 assists for the month.
Next: The Encyclopedia of Modern Moves
Last but certainly not least (really, this would’ve been the lead if not for poor DeMarcus Cousins), redshirt rookie Ben Simmons had an incredible Wednesday night as his squad defeated the Bulls, 115-101. So, 19 points, 17 rebounds, and 14 assists is really nice. You know what it is really, really nice? Reaching the triple-double plateau in less than 22 minutes of game action. This dude is 21 years old too.
*Underrated aspect of this week’s TD Watch: Three of the seven guys appearing are centers. What an exciting league we have here.