New Orleans Pelicans: 5 ripple effects of the DeMarcus Cousins injury

Just as the New Orleans Pelicans were hitting their stride, a DeMarcus Cousins injury has ruined their playoff hopes. The question is, now what?

The New Orleans Pelicans were mere seconds away from perhaps their most impressive victory of the season Friday night. They were poised to knock off the red-hot Houston Rockets at home and secure their fourth straight win to improve to 8-2 over their last 10 games.

Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, recently named as starters among the Western Conference All-Stars, were dropping eye-popping stat lines on a nightly basis and the rest of the team was following suit. The Pellies had climbed all the way up to sixth in the conference standings and finally looked like a playoff team after entering 2018 with an 18-18 record.

Unfortunately, for a franchise that hasn’t been able to preserve nice things since its last playoff appearance — a first round sweep — back in 2015, that was exactly when disaster struck.

As Boogie was trying to make a hustle play, a non-contact injury saw him come up hobbling before going to the ground. With just 8.1 seconds left, he had to be helped off the floor, exiting with a 15-point, 13-rebound, 11-assist triple-double.

The Pelicans won the battle, but lost the war when the devastating diagnosis didn’t take long to surface: A torn left Achilles, which will sideline Cousins for the next 6-10 months. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the injury, later confirming it was a torn Achilles that would force him to miss the rest of the season.

Cousins averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game this season, shooting 47 percent from the floor and 35.4 percent from 3-point range, so losing him is obviously a massive blow to the Pelicans and the NBA in general.

The No. 1 concern right now should be wishing Cousins a complete and quick return to action, even if it won’t be until next season. Achilles injuries are potentially career-altering, and we’ve seldom seen how they affect a near seven-footer of his size.

However, as unfortunate as the situation is, Boogie’s season-ending injury leaves us with quite a few questions to answer. What will the ripple effects from such an awful injury be for Boogie, New Orleans and the Western Conference playoff picture? Here’s a look at what to expect moving forward.