Thursday 5 December 2019 09:59, UK
Injured Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins doesn't want to be counted out of the playoffs. If the Warriors can keep playing this postseason while eyeing another NBA title, so will he, despite having suffered a partially torn quadriceps muscle.
"For me, my goal is I ain't planning on sitting," Cousins told The Undefeated on Monday following the shootaround ahead of the Warrriors' Game 4 loss to the Houston Rockets that levelled their Western Conference semi-finals series at 2-2.
"I don't know the reality of it. But for me, that is not what I'm planning on doing. It's definitely some type of bad movie. But I think it will have a very nice ending. Just wait for it."
Cousins, a six-time All-Star who has started taking part in light shooting drills, tore the quad muscle in his left leg in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 15, but did not require surgery.
The Warriors announced then that Cousins would be sidelined indefinitely and would begin rehabilitation immediately, but he was not ruled out for the rest of the playoffs.
"I was confident from the beginning once they told me the severity of it," Cousins said. "Talking to the doctors helped me understand the injury a little more. I started analyzing things and playing it out in my head. I'm going to take it day by day and work my (tail) off like I always do.
"Obviously, I was little more relieved that it wasn't anything catastrophic like I've dealt with before. It sucks to be injured anyway on top of that. The timing of it really (messed) me up the most. It's a part of this game, man. I'm not the first. I won't be the last."
Cousins made his Warriors' debut on January 18 against the Clippers. That came almost a year after recuperating from a ruptured left Achilles tendon he suffered playing for the New Orleans Pelicans against the Houston Rockets on January 26, 2018.
Then he was injured again while trying to run down a loose ball three-and-a-half minutes into the team's eventual 135-131 playoff loss to the Clippers.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is also hopeful of Cousins' return, telling the media on Sunday: "He's coming along pretty well. We'll just have to wait and see."
Game 5 takes place in Oakland in the early hours of Thursday morning (3:30am).
