NBA Note - New Orleans Pelicans Cousins, DeMarcus

Dec 14, 2017 - 9:34 AM C DeMarcus Cousins scored a team-high 26 points -- including a 3-pointer from the left wing that sealed the game with 22 seconds left -- grabbed 13 rebounds, dished out seven assists and, not surprisingly, committed nine turnovers.

After finishing one turnover shy of a triple-double, Cousins said decision-making is something he is trying to work on. Cousins was a big reason the Pelicans were able to overcome 21 turnovers against Milwaukee, almost half of which he committed.

"I'm the main culprit of that," said Cousins, who is averaging 5.1 turnovers a game, most in the league next to Russell Westbrook's 4.7. "It just shows how good we could be if we just cut down half our turnovers. Just got to take care of the ball better, make better decisions. I definitely have to make better decisions with the ball. I take full responsibility for the high amount of turnovers."

With the bad comes a lot of good.

Cousins scored nine points in the final 8:12, a key reason the Pelicans (15-14) outscored the Bucks 28-14 in the final 10 minutes to win going away.

Cousins made another key play when he rebounded a missed 3-point attempt by teammate Jameer Nelson and one-handed the ball for a tomahawk dunk, putting the Pelicans up 106-101 with 4:20 left.

"I saw that Jameer was going to miss," Cousins said while laughing. "Something just told me to keep going. When it left his hand, it didn't look too good. I'm not the guy who's (normally) soaring above the rim, but the opportunity kind of presented itself, and I took advantage of that."

Cousins had an ugly end of the first half. With the Pelicans milking the final seconds on the clock, holding a 62-61 lead, Cousins turned the ball over at the top the key and the fouled John Henson with one second left. Henson made two free throws for a 63-61 Milwaukee lead. In the second half, Cousins got into a shouting match with a fan sitting at courtside. "He was very disrespectful," Cousins said. "And he was a New Orleans fan."