BBNBA: DeMarcus Cousins provides spark in Denver's last stand

The Bucks finished off the Bulls and the Warriors sent the Nuggets home on Wednesday, despite DeMarcus Cousins having the best postseason performance of his career. Let’s recap everything NBA Playoffs.

Wednesday’s Results

(6) Bulls 100 @ (3) Bucks 116 | MIL wins series 4-1

(6) Nuggets 98 @ (3) Warriors 102 | GSW wins series 4-1

Cousins gets hot but Curry pushes Warriors over Nuggets

Denver went out in just five games but fell in valiant fashion after making the back end of the series competitive.

Nikola Jokić will likely take home his second straight MVP award for his regular-season efforts in dragging a maligned Denver team to a top-six seed in the West. Obviously, there was no Jamal Murray for the entire 2021-22 campaign after he tore his ACL in the back half of the 2021 season. Michael Porter Jr., who Denver signed to a rookie-scale max extension last offseason, also missed most of the year due to back issues. To get Denver to the playoffs with the remaining cast was absolutely an MVP-level feat.

Unfortunately, he’ll bow out in the first round. Not without putting up a fight, though. In Game 5, Jokic punished Golden State’s smaller starting lineup to the tune of 30 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists. He completely controlled the frontcourt matchup.

And when both teams brought their subs in, DeMarcus Cousins had his way with Kevon Looney on the offensive end. Boogie really turned it on near the end of the third quarter. He drove straight into Looney’s chest and dropped in a nine-foot floater with 1:56 to play. Then he tipped in an offensive rebound, again over Looney. On the final shot of the half, Boogie knocked down a three to put the Nuggets up eight.

Denver’s first bucket of the fourth quarter didn’t come until a few minutes in, when Boogie splashed a midrange jumper. He followed that up with a destructive screen on Jordan Poole, then rolled and received a pass from Bryn Forbes which he floated in for two more, putting the Nuggets back up by four.

Nikola Jokic replaced Cousins shortly after that and played the final six minutes. He traded scores with Stephen Curry for a few possessions, but Steph put it away in the final minutes. Amazing performance from the last player to win back-to-back MVP’s over the guy who’s about to do it.

On the night, Cousins tallied 19 points, marking the highest-scoring playoff game of his career. Hopefully, NBA front offices will keep this game in mind when evaluating him this offseason.