OKLAHOMA CITY - DeMarcus Cousins will be back from a one-game suspension, but the Kings will still be without Marcus Thornton when the Kings play the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight.
Thornton will miss his second game while in Louisiana with his ill mother. No timetable is set for Thornton to rejoin the team.
Cousins was suspended for hitting Dallas guard O.J. Mayo in the groin Monday. Cousins said it was an accident but the NBA still suspended him for Wednesday's loss at Milwaukee.
Cousins said he's still trying to understand why he was disciplined by the league.
"I don't even feel like I'm doing anything wrong," Cousins said. "I'm just playing ball and I'm going to continue to do that."
Cousins said Kings management and the coaching staff have talked to him about the Mayo incident and the other incidents that have led to fines and suspensions.
"They're just saying what everybody else is saying," Cousins said. "Coach (Keith Smart) has talked to me but everyone else is giving me the same political answer."
That same political answer is:
"Stop giving them stuff to mess with you about or whatever," Cousins said.
Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said the Kings are doing their best to support Cousins, who has been suspended twice by the league this season.
"We're really continuing to try and work with him and get him grow past and understand that all the things that get him into situations that are not healthy for him or the team," Petrie said. "Everyone continues to support him but at the same time we're trying to get him learn the boundaries."
Added Petrie:
"We have people that are willing to work with him that are independent and private beyond our staff."
Petrie also said nothing that has happened has led him to believe Cousins should be traded.
So I asked Cousins did he feel he had all the support needed to deal with the situations that have led to problems with the league.
"I ain't fixing to get into all that," Cousins said. "I'm just going to play ball and try my best to stay out these situations."
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