Rockets' red glare outshines Cousins debut with Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS - What a bummer of a beginning to the Boogie-and-Brow era in the Big Easy.

The Pelicans' tandem of newly acquired All-Star DeMarcus Cousins and All-Star Game MVP Anthony Davis was no match for the surging Houston Rockets on Thursday night.

Reserve Lou Williams nailed seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points in his Rockets debut as Houston crushed New Orleans, 129-99.

"Nobody expected us to win the championship in our first game. We see the potential. We see what we need to work on," Cousins said.

"Houston's a very good team, a very seasoned team. They have their identity and we're trying to find ours. It's going to be a process. We've got to go in and work our tails off. I think we'll be fine."

Davis had 29 points, and Cousins finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds after being acquired from Sacramento during the All-Star break.

New Orleans turned the ball over 20 times and couldn't keep pace with the Rockets, who hit 20 3-pointers.

Adding injury to insult, forward Omri Casspi, whom the Pelicans acquired in the Cousins deal, broke his right thumb after scoring 12 points and is expected to miss about a month.

"Can't catch a break," Casspi said, noting that the injury occurred while he went for a strip on guard Eric Gordon in the third quarter.

"Hopefully it's going to heal faster than the projections."

Gordon scored 19 points and Ryan Anderson added 17 in both players' first game in New Orleans since leaving the Pelicans. James Harden had 13 points and 14 assists.

Houston led by as many as 35 points when Gordon's free throws made it 100-65 late in the third quarter.

Williams, acquired from the Lakers, entered the game as a reserve late in the first quarter and hit two 3s before he'd been in the game for 15 seconds.

"I told him just go out there and play his game and if you have an open shot, shoot it," Harden said.

"He led our team in scoring in his first game, so yes, he fits in well with us."

Williams wound up playing 25 minutes and was 9-of-16 shooting.

"I didn't obviously know it would be this quick but he played great," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said.

"He makes our second unit really good and we're going to be able to do a lot of different things with him on this team."

Tip-ins

Rockets: Patrick Beverley had 12 rebounds for Houston. Montrezl Harrell added 10 points for the Rockets, who shot 49.5 percent (45 of 91) ... The Rockets hit at least 10 3s in a game for the 55th time in 59 games this season ... Now 41-18, Houston has matched its win total for all of last season.

Pelicans: Before the game, New Orleans waived forward Terrence Jones and signed guard/forward Hollis Thompson to a 10-day contract. Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said Jones, who joined New Orleans on a one-year contract this season, was released to help him find a team where he could play more ... The Pelicans are now 14-16 at home.

Holiday blues

After New Orleans acquired Cousins, nicknamed "Boogie," in a deal involving five players and two draft choices, Pelicans GM Dell Demps hoped his team's newest big man and Davis - known for his connected eye brows - would thrive playing off one another while veteran point guard Jrue Holiday initiated offensive sets.

Unfortunately for the Pelicans, Holiday had arguably his worst game this season, turning the ball over seven times and finishing with only six points and four assists.

Holiday said he was "forcing it too much and trying to make everybody happy. It's something that's just going to take time and practice."

Let down

The crowd was charged up for both Cousins' debut and Davis' resumption of a sensational season following his record 52-point performance on Sunday.

Both players received rousing receptions during introductions and the crowd roared when Cousins' jumper opened the scoring.

James helps Cavs kick Knicks

CLEVELAND - Carmelo Anthony was still a member of the New York Knicks when he awoke from a relaxing afternoon nap on Thursday.

A few hours later, the Cleveland Cavaliers made sure the Knicks' nightmarish season continued.

LeBron James recorded his 48th career triple-double and Kyrie Irving scored 23 points, leading the Cavs to a 119-104 victory over the Knicks, who hung on to Anthony and Derrick Rose at the trade deadline.

James scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds with 15 assists for his sixth triple-double of the season.

Anthony, the subject of trade rumors because of a strained relationship with Knicks president of basketball operations Phil Jackson, scored 20 points, going 9 of 25 from the field.

"I'm at peace," Anthony said. "I've been at peace. I'm happy I won't be talking about trades or any of this stuff the rest of the season."

Anthony anticipated he would remain with the Knicks.

"Nobody likes to be in limbo, especially when it's involving you, but that's not the way it is in this sport," he said. "Obviously, we all knew kind of what was going on out there, but nothing happened."

Kyle Korver scored 20 points for Cleveland, which is 8-1 in February and has beaten New York 10 straight times.

"We got back to playing our type of basketball," James said. "I've always felt good about our team, but it was just about the way we were playing. I feel really good about the way we're playing right now."

Associated Press

DeMarcus Cousins of the New Orleans Pelicans is sandwiched by Houston Rockets' Montrezl Harrell (left) and James Harden during the first half of Thursday's game at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Houston won 129-99. Jonathan Bachman / Afp