The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Houston Rockets on Friday night – but the victory was marred by what is a thought to be a serious injury for DeMarcus Cousins.
Cousins, who made a triple-double in the home game with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, limped off the court late into the fourth quarter after tearing his Achilles.
“It’s his achilles. He’ll get an MRI. We’ll know the severity of it tomorrow.” – @PelicansNBA Head Coach, Alvin Gentry on DeMarcus Cousins injury#GameTime pic.twitter.com/XMvzW1yyaK
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 27, 2018
Head coach Alvin Gentry told NBA TV: “It’s tough, one of your key players, but we’ve just go to keep pushing on”, as speculation mounted Cousins could be out for the rest of the season.
Jrue Randall Holiday, meanwhile, helped in 115-113 bittersweet victory, posting 21 points and seven assists.
Hope big fella @boogiecousins is ok!!! Prayers ??
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) January 27, 2018
Chris Paul stood out for the Rockets with a season-high 38 points but it was not enough to bring his team back from a 21-point deficit in the third.
Elsewhere, Ben Simmons helped lift the Philadelphia 76ers to a 97-78 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
The Sixers lead by 19 at the halfway mark and Simmons, who made 21 points five rebounds and seven assists, and Joel Embiid, who posted 18 points, never looked backed in the final two quarters to see out the comfortable win.
Final stats ⤵️
Simmons 21 PTS / 7 AST / 5 REBEmbiid 18 PTS / 14 REBSaric 15 PTS / 7 REBAnderson 12 PTS / 3 REBTLC 10 PTSBooker 7 PTS / 6 REB
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 27, 2018
The Cleveland Cavaliers, after two losses in a row, were back on form as they triumphed 115-108 against the Indiana Pacers.
In the final quarter, it looked like the Cavs’ luck might have run out as the Pacers fought hard to come back from a 19-point deficit and managing to narrow the Cavs’ lead to just five points.
But LeBron James came to the fore, scoring 26 points and making 10 rebounds and 11 assists, and overshadowing 25 points from the Pacers’ Victor Oladipo.
Back in the win column.#CavsPacers BOX: https://t.co/gUtJfrSjCF #AllForOne pic.twitter.com/GU8Jt2TZEK
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 27, 2018
Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hornets beat the Atlanta Hawks 121-110, while the LA Lakers overcame the Chicago Bulls 108-103 and the Memphis Grizzlies lost out to the Los Angeles Clippers 100-109.
The Toronto Raptors were defeated 93-97 by the Utah Jazz, and the Brooklyn Nets lost 91-116 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Dallas Mavericks lost 93-107 at home to the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns fell to their third loss in a row as the New York Knicks triumphed 107-85.
