NBA
DeMarcus Cousins Just Delivered One of the Greatest Fantasy Performances Ever
The Pelicans' All-Star big man finished with 44 points, 24 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals and 1 block last night in a win over Chicago, translating into one of the highest point totals in the history of NBA DFS.

DeMarcus Cousins was voted a starter in this year's NBA All-Star Game for the first time in his career. And damn if he hasn't earned it.

Last night, Cousins posted a stat line so absurd it caught everyone's attention -- including the best player in the world:


Cousins finished a 132-128 double-overtime New Orleans Pelicans win over the Chicago Bulls with 44 points, 24 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals and 1 block.

In the history of the game, only four other players have ever put up 40-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist triple-double -- Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain (who did it six times). The most recent of that bunch was Abdul-Jabbar in 1972 -- yep, 46 years ago.

Peep the highlights from Boogie's big night:

So, how did Cousins' absurd production translate to daily fantasy numbers? His 97.8 fantasy points (8.5 points per every $1,000 in salary based on last night's cost) is the second-greatest performance in FanDuel history (behind his current teammate, Anthony Davis). Below are the top-five single-game fantasy outings in the FanDuel era (2009 to present), including Joel Embiid's historic game from earlier this season:

Player Date PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV FD Points
Anthony Davis 10/26/16 50 15 5 5 4 3 99.5
DeMarcus Cousins 1/22/18 44 24 10 4 1 5 97.8
LeBron James 2/18/10 43 13 15 2 4 3 96.1
Devin Booker 3/24/17 70 8 6 3 1 5 95.6
Russell Westbrook 4/19/17 51 10 13 4 1 4 93.5
Joel Embiid 11/15/17 46 15 7 0 7 2 93.5


And, if we add in every performance since 2001, Boogie's Monday night effort would rank fourth all-time in fantasy production. Coincidentally, his big game came on the 12th anniversary of Kobe Bryant's legendary 81-point game, which checks in at number-two on the all-time list:

Player Date PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV FD Points
Chris Webber 1/5/01 51 26 5 3 2 4 100.7
Kobe Bryant 1/22/06 81 6 2 3 1 3 100.2
Anthony Davis 10/26/16 50 15 5 5 4 3 99.5
DeMarcus Cousins 1/22/18 44 24 10 4 1 5 97.8
LeBron James 2/18/10 43 13 15 2 4 3 96.1
Devin Booker 3/24/17 70 8 6 3 1 5 95.6
Dirk Nowitzki 12/2/04 53 16 2 3 4 1 95.2
Shaquille O'Neal 5/6/01 44 21 4 0 7 2 94.2
Tim Duncan 6/4/03 32 20 6 3 7 1 94.0
Russell Westbrook 4/19/17 51 10 13 4 1 4 93.5
Joel Embiid 11/15/17 46 15 7 0 7 2 93.5


Maybe even crazier is that this isn't some anomaly for Cousins. After last night, Boogie is also now the first player with three 40-point, 20-rebound games in a single season since Moses Malone in 1981-82. Through 46 games this campaign, Cousins is also averaging career-highs in minutes (36.5 per game), rebounds (12.9), assists (5.2), three-point makes and attempts (2.2-6.2) and steals (1.6), and he's already posted 12 games of at least 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Like LeBron said: "Sheesh!!!"

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