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DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis had both just finished playing in the NBA All-Star game when they learned they would be teammates.
That same night, as the New Orleans Pelicans made the biggest trade of the year, Rudy Gobert was vacationing on a beach in Mexico.
Don't think for a second he wouldn't have preferred to be in the Big Easy.
But on Monday night, Gobert got a modicum of revenge, as he and the Utah Jazz took care of business against the Pelicans and their superstar frontcourt with an 88-83 win in Salt Lake City.
Cousins looked frustrated.
Davis fell short.
Gobert? He was just having fun.
"Guys that played in the All-Star game, stuff like that," he said, "it's always fun to play against those guys."
Cousins and Davis are too talented to be stopped completely, but the Jazz were able to make things hard on them at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Davis scored 20 points (eight off his season average) on 7-of-17 shooting. Cousins, meanwhile, had 15 points (eight shy of the 23 he's averaged since the trade) on 5-of-15 shooting.
"If you let any one guy try to guard either one of them, it's going to be hard," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "I thought our group was very aware and tried to be efficient and, by and large, did a really good job."
Give Gobert some credit there.
The 7-footer has been terrific for the Jazz all season, but has provided crucial plays to beat the Kings and Pelicans on back-to-back nights this week.
On Sunday night, Gobert scored a game-tying layup to force overtime, where his buzzer-beating tip-in beat the Kings.
A night later, Gobert finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and two blocked shots. With New Orleans threatening in the fourth quarter, Gobert scored another key put-back and, on the very next possession, stripped Cousins for one of his two steals.
"He's not afraid. He's not afraid of the moment," Snyder said of Gobert's crunch-time performances. "So he's not going to shy away from anything. … His gusto, his verve, whatever you want to call it, he's got it."
He has also got a chip on his shoulder.
Even if he won't admit it outright.
"No, no. They're great players," Gobert said with a smirk when asked if he was out to prove anything on the court Monday night. "I wasn't an All-Star, so I'm not as great."
Twitter: @aaronfalk