DeMarcus Cousins Saw ‘Flashes of Kobe’ in Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard lit up the Sacramento Kings for 30 points, five assists and five steals Thursday night, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 102-94 road win.

Following their duel, DeMarcus Cousins said he saw “flashes of Kobe” in Leonard.

Bryant, prompted by Gregg Popovich, trained with and mentored Kawhi this past summer.

Per the Sac Bee:

“Kawhi, he was ridiculous as usual,” Popovich said. “He took two away in a row and said ‘Give me it’ and just grabbed it. He just grabbed it and took it twice in a row. I don’t see many people doing that.”

 

Cousins had 37 points and 16 rebounds to lead Sacramento (1-1). Cousins said the spirit of the team was good. They understand their mistakes, he said, and are ready for Saturday’s game against Minnesota. […] “I consider this a good loss, and I know everybody else in here feels the same way. Coach feels the same,” Cousins said. “It’s on to the next one. Tonight was a winnable game, and the next one is. If we play this way the remainder of the season, we’ll be fine.”

 

Someone who agrees with Cousins is Popovich. […] “If they sustain that (defense), that’s going to be a good basketball team,” Popovich said. “You can see (Dave Joerger’s) stamp on it already, defensively.”

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