New Orleans– Anthony Davis is known for always keeping his cool, but Wednesday night his frustrations with the officiating boiled-over. Fans saw a reversal of roles as DeMarcus Cousins tried to calm-down his teammate, before Davis was given his second technical foul and ejected from the game. It was the first time Davis has been ejected in his career.
“Everybody in there knows AD,” Cousins said. “There’s got to be some kind of legit reason for him to act out.”
“It was kind of a building thing you know?” said Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham. “I don’t know if I can say this but I’m not so… You know it was a building thing and it kind of just kept escalation from one play to the next.”
AD was tossed with 4:11 to play in the second quarter, but not before he scored 17 points in 17 minutes and grabbed 5 rebounds. After Davis left the game, the Timberwolves went on a 17-6 run, to take a 62-49 lead into the locker room. The Pelicans were never able to recover from losing their leading scorer, and ultimately lost to Minnesota 120-102.
“Well when we lost AD, obviously that changed everything,” said Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “He did exactly what we told him to do– take the ball strong to the basket.”
“He’s definitely a big part of our team,” Cunningham said. “A lot of things go through him. We just have to find a way. We’ve played games without him. We’ve played games when he’s hurt so we have to find a way just to get it done.”
Jrue Holiday led the Pelicans with 27 points and 5 assists, while Cousins finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season. Andrew Wiggins had a game-high 28 points for the Timberwolves.
The Pelicans (11-10) now hit the road for back-to-back away games. They take-on the Utah Jazz Friday and then the Portland Trailblazers on Saturday.
