MIAMI -- DeMarcus Cousins couldn't channel his energy toward staying on the court Tuesday night.
The Kings center had no trouble channeling Rasheed Wallace in the locker room, however.
Cousins, who outplayed his former teammate -- and current Heat center -- Hassan Whiteside for most of the Kings' 108-96 overtime loss to Miami, wasn't able to outlast Whiteside, even as Whiteside was saddled with foul trouble all night.
That's because Cousins, who ended the third quarter with a technical foul but no personal fouls, picked up six of the latter in the fourth quarter alone, limiting his production to 30 points and seven rebounds.
Yes, six fouls -- three offensive.
In 11 minutes and 29 seconds.
Of an NBA game.
It wasn't quite Bubba Wells, who was disqualified in just three minutes back in 1997, because Don Nelson sent Wells in to intentionally foul Dennie Rodman. But it was something. So after consulting with Kings executive Vlade Divac, staring down the box score, and missing the first Kings bus while slowly dressing, Cousins went into cash preservation mode. That wasn't all that surprising, considering how he was fined $25,000 on Monday for tossing his mouthpiece into the Sacramento crowd on Saturday.
His line?
"A good hard competitive game."
He repeated that four times, first in response to how the game got away, then about how he'd been officiated, and then in anticipation of any other question.
"Good hard competitive game. Good hard competitive game. Have a great day."
Then he trudged out into the night.
His coach, Dave Joerger, had a bit more to say.
"It's unbelievable, isn't it?" Joerger said. "Unbelievable. I just watched them. Unbelievable. That's all I can say. I mean, I can't say anything. I don't understand. In my opinion, Carmelo [Anthony], DeMarcus, physical guys, Kawhi [Leonard], LeBron [James], they create a lot of contact. So it's difficult to officiate. That's all I can comment."
Say this for Cousins and his coach: When it came to avoiding fines, both guys tried hard.
Or played hard. Well, you get it.
