The strange DeMarcus Cousins-Meyers Leonard feud could resume Wednesday
The two big men are fighting for their playoff lives
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4 min read
PORTLAND -- The battle for the eighth seed in the Western Conference is shaping up to be a three-team race between the Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers. The New Orleans Pelicans are also right there and to a lesser extent, so are the Lakers.
On Wednesday however, the race gets a bit more clearer as the Blazers and Kings face each other for the third time this season. The season series is tied up one game a piece and although it is still December, a win from either team will help with possible playoff positioning as the victor will secure the head-to-head tiebreaker.
"We are fighting with them for the eighth spot." Kings guard Ty Lawson said at shootaround. "It's like a playoff game for us, so we have to treat it as such."
Fight is an apt description for the matchup between the two teams as their two games this season have been a slug fest. Portland just edged Sacramento out in overtime in their first meeting on Nov. 11, winning 122-120. The Kings then won another close game on Dec. 20, winning 126-121, thanks to a monstrous 55-point performance by DeMarcus Cousins.
In addition to the competitive nature of both games, there was also an undercard matchup between Cousins and Blazers big man Meyers Leonard that has created a tense and emotional atmosphere. Cousins has a brief but tumultuous history with Leonard and everything reached a boiling point in their last meeting.
While yapping at Leonard at the bench after scoring on an and-1 , Cousins almost got ejected as his mouthguard fell/was spat out during his trash talk. Officials rescinded his second technical however and Cousins made the free throw for his 55th point. He then made a game-saving block on Damian Lillard to ensure the Kings would get the win. After the game both players engaged in a war of words where Leonard called Cousins "downright disrespectful," and the Kings All-Star acted like he had no idea who the Blazers big man was.
"Things have happened, clearly," Leonard said at Blazers' practice on Tuesday. "I don't know what it is about me that he doesn't like, but honestly, there's nothing I can do about that. It's my job to go out there and compete and make it hard on him."
Of course making it hard on Cousins, is easier said than done. Cousins has expanded his game this season by shooting threes at a greater rate (a career-high 38 percent on 4.7 attempts a game) and his ability to bully opponents in the low post is unmatched. This season, Cousins is averaging a career-high in points (29.1), assists (3.5) and blocks (1.5). Leonard is well aware of Cousins' ability but believes that his physicality on defense can effectively slow down Cousins.
"He's an extremely talented individual," Leonard said. "But I do think that he tries to physically out-man you and really lay it to you. So when he hits you, you have to hit him back. That's just all there is to it. It's a physical game as is. But with a player like that, you have to stand your ground and let him know that you're going to be there all night."
"He's saying all this stuff about, 'He's not a stopper, he's not a stopper,'" Leonard later added. "Watch the film."
Like all players, Leonard is clearly confident in his abilities. But by no means is he a Cousins-stopper. However, he is successful at agitating and at times disrupting, Cousins with his physical play, which is one reason why there is a shared animosity between the two.
"Meyers made it tough on him." C.J. McCollum said after praising Cousins' 55-point performance at length. "That's what you got to do. Make it tough. Guys that touch the ball as much as [Cousin] does are going to score, you just gotta make it as difficult as possible."
Whether or not this an actual rivalry (Leonard did not want to call it that), is up for debate though. The two don't like each other but it is strange that a star player like Cousins, seems to be devoting so much time to a role player in Leonard. But according to Blazers coach Terry Stotts, the conflict between Cousins and Leonard is simply the result of two big men going at it.
"Different players get up for different players,'' Stotts said. "When two guys get going at it, physical, it can be combative. I think it's the nature of the game, when you are put in those situations your competitive juices rise to the situation.''
Kings coach Dave Joerger offered up a similar assessment.
"It's just two competitive guys, in the same conference," Joerger said. "It's kind of like playing [against] a guy in practice, there are times where it's just like 'Not, this guy again.'"
Call it what you will, but round three of Kings-Blazers, a game with possible playoff implications, will be the next chapter of the ongoing feud between Cousins and Leonard. And as Michael Buffer would say, let's get ready to rumble.
