DeMarcus Cousins Earns Suspension Before Winning Game With Pelicans

The DeMarcus Cousins era in The Big Easy isn’t off to a good start.

The New Orleans Pelicans have lost their first three games since acquiring Cousins from the Sacramento Kings before the NBA trade deadline. Now, they’ll be without Cousins for their next game Wednesday night, as the All-Star center was suspended for one game without pay Tuesday when the NBA upheld a technical foul from the Pelicans’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.

The technical foul, which was assessed when Cousins got tangled up with Thunder center Steven Adams underneath the basket early in the first quarter, was Cousins’ NBA-leading 18th of the season. By rule, a player is automatically suspended for one game without pay after receiving 16 technical fouls in a season. The player then faces the same one-game penalty for every second technical foul thereafter.

Cousins is no stranger to being T’d up, as the 26-year-old has accumulated 101 technical fouls over the course of his seven-year career. He’s posted good individual numbers since landing with the Pelicans last week, averaging 23.3 points and 13 rebounds per game over three contests, but it doesn’t seem like he’s toned down his on-court aggression any.

But hey, at least he’s enjoying Mardis Gras.

Thumbnail photo via Mark D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports Images