The Boston Celtics will not have to worry about DeMarcus Cousins when they face off against the Kings
After going through the most important stretch of the season, where the Boston Celtics finally took advantage of the struggling Toronto Raptors to get a strong hold of the two seed, they will be on a road trip before the All Star break. The Celtics rode Isaiah Thomas to a seven game winning streak, which landed Brad Stevens in the All Star game en route to an Eastern Conference player of the month award.
Now the Celtics will look to build on their strongest stretch of the season, but they will have to do a lot more away from home this season. The Celtics start out with a struggling Sacramento Kings team, who should be no problem for the Celtics, but normally would have one massive problem.
DeMarcus Cousins is one of the most dominant players in the NBA, and is the exact kind of big that causes all kinds of problems for the Celtics defense. His ability to stretch the floor pulls Al Horford away from where he can have his best defensive impact, and his size and stretch can abuse Amir Johnson.
The Celtics have a tendency to play down to competition, and Cousins is a player they always have to worry about, especially if the game is kept close. Except in this meeting, Cousins made the start of this road trip even easier, after being suspended for his 16th technical foul. The Kings continue to be one of the most dysfunctional teams in the NBA, as Cousins was also fined $25 000 for the incident that pushed his technical totals over the top.
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Celtics fans can be happy that they will not have to account for one of the truly unstoppable forces in the NBA, and they can also be happy to see the Cousins situation continue to deteriorate in Sacramento. The Kings have publicly announced that they have no interest in trading Cousins, but as these disciplinary problems continue to add up, that statement becomes harder and harder to believe.
It would still be foolish to expect any trade to actually materialize between the two upcoming opponents, but this will just add fuel to the kinds of rumors that Cousins has been facing pretty much his entire career with the Kings.
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The Celtics are on their hottest stretch of the season, and they want to keep that going into the All Star break. There is still uncertainty with Avery Bradley, and with their vicious inconsistencies this season, they Celtics no longer have to worry about the one player that could truly threaten them in their meeting against the Kings.