John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins Reunite in Rockets Debut

John Wall hadn’t played in an official NBA game in over 700 days before making his Houston Rockets debut on Thursday night. Perhaps best of all, he helped deliver the Rockets their first win of the season. Wall had 22 points and nine assists to help lift Houston over Sacramento 122-119.

Wearing Houston’s new blue ‘H-Town‘ jerseys, Wall also reunited with former Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins, who was also making his Rockets’ debut. Cousins entered at the end of the first quarter and promptly hit a three-pointer the first time Houston was on offense. Both Wall and Cousins missed the entirety of the 2019-20 NBA season.

While he didn’t start, Cousins was efficient in 14 minutes, finishing with eight points (3-for-5) and three assists. James Harden led all scorers with 33 points.

Wall and Cousins were both one-and-done players for John Calipari at Kentucky during the 2009-10 season. Though they fell short of a national title, the team was memorable for having a plethora of top draft picks and NBA players. Eight members of the 2009-10 team went on to play in the NBA, five of which were selected in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft — John Wall (#1), DeMarcus Cousins (#5), Patrick Patterson (#14), Eric Bledsoe (#18), and Daniel Orton (#29).

Eric Gordon also made his season debut for Houston. He finished with 17 points.