DeMarcus Cousins joining Anthony Davis in New Orleans came with high expectations, but the Pelicans have yet to impress, losing their first three games with the new duo. (0:57)

NEW ORLEANS -- As their float rumbled down the parade route and music from the DJ onboard drowned out the brassy high school bands on foot, DeMarcus Cousins stood in front of a giant light-blue rotary phone with a pair of women's underwear on his head, a stuffed alligator in his hand and a strand of purple-and-gold plastic bulbs draped over his left shoulder as if he were a Mardi Gras Rambo.

A little more than a week after an unexpected trade between the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans was finalized during the All-Star Game here, Cousins already seemed right at home next to Anthony Davis, as the new superstar teammates and honorary grand marshals for the Krewe of Zulu tossed beads and other trinkets to the throng of parade-goers lining the streets below.

"He definitely embraced it all," Davis said of Cousins' Fat Tuesday experience. "He kept telling me he was happy to be here."

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry beamed amid the crowd, too, like he did during Davis' MVP performance in the All-Star Game the week before.

Although an 0-3 start together on the court hasn't provided as much celebration fodder, the sight of Cousins and Davis, two of the most skilled big men in the NBA, working in tandem in the Pelicans' offense has been an even greater spectacle.

Though Davis narrowly bested Cousins' 27 points in their debut, Cousins shot an impressive 71 percent inside the 3-point arc. Davis then scored 39 points in the encore in Dallas, his third-highest output since the beginning of December. The next night, in Oklahoma City, they reached the peak thus far in the melding of their awesome production, putting up a combined 69 of the Pelicans' 108 points despite foul trouble limiting Davis to 32 minutes and Cousins to 21 minutes.

While their 55 minutes sharing the same court have produced a minus-11.9 net rating, Davis and Cousins also have the two highest player-efficiency ratings in the NBA since the All-Star break, per RealGM.

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The Pelicans, now 24-37 overall after a win without Cousins on Wednesday, still find themselves four games back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference while facing the league's third-toughest schedule over their final 21 games. But there are indeed sprouts of something beautiful.

"It'll take them some time, but two talented guys like that should be able to figure it out," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. It's not as easy as probably people think it is. I think everybody thought, 'Oh, yeah. He'll walk in and we'll start blowing people out.' It's not that easy."

If anything, the more time the 6-foot-11 hybrid frontcourt players spend together, the more each one's unique brand of offensive brilliance -- and how they might benefit from each other as a result -- becomes clearly defined.

The force of Cousins -- both in playing style and personality -- is unlike anything the Pelicans have had in Davis' tenure. The 26-year-old commands attention, whether he's steamrolling space for himself in the blocks, facilitating with his back to the basket or working from the top of the key.

Said point guard Jrue Holiday: "He's a bull."

Indeed, but as Gentry noted, Cousins' "cerebral" approach is what makes him special. The ease and smoothness with which a player of his size handles and shoots can be jarring to the unfamiliar; watching Cousins pull up from 3 off the dribble is the basketball equivalent of an All-Pro defensive lineman catching a touchdown pass while moonlighting as a tight end.

Such a physical presence has allowed Davis to indulge as a true stretch power forward.

While Davis, listed at almost 20 pounds lighter than Cousins, has often seemed predestined to end up a small-ball 5, especially given Gentry's Ph.D. in pace and space, the increased pounding of the position has had a diminishing effect, if not on Davis' still-developing body, then on his spirits.

Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are filling the stat sheet together, but wins have been hard to come by. Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

With another frontline player to draw the defense when sharing the court and wear it down when they're apart, the post-trade Pelicans have been a virtual showpiece for Davis' speed and versatility: While his true shooting percentage actually dips 8.5 points next to Cousins, according to NBAwowy.com, since the All-Star break the 23-year-old is first in the league in scoring (34.8), tied for first in shot attempts (25), third in free throw attempts (10.5) and second in usage rate (40.2 percent).

"You can't really double-team him, because the double-team is now off a guard," Holiday said. "Obviously when they pass it out to us, it goes right back in. It's just a mismatch."

The combination figures to get even more potent as they learn to play off each other. Through three games, Davis has yet to assist one of Cousins' 22 makes, while Cousins has assisted five of Davis' 40 makes.

"I think they challenge each other," Gentry said. "I think they've become a lot closer as teammates."

Perhaps an even bigger challenge for the Pelicans lies not with the meshing of Cousins and Davis, but fitting a roster with another new starter (Hollis Thompson) and two new reserves (Jarrett Jack, Reggie Williams).

Cousins and Davis utilized nearly 90 percent of their team's possessions in their game at Oklahoma City -- a single-game rate that squashes any by a pairing in the past 16 years, per analytics godfather Dean Oliver. And while Cousins and Davis have shot a combined 53 percent in their three games together, the rest of the team has shot 32 percent from the field and 24 percent from 3-point range.

Asked what he hoped to carry over from Wednesday's win without Cousins, Gentry deadpanned: "Making shots."

The common Gentry refrain is even more critical now that two Pelicans are able to draw consistent double teams, he said, and the team spent Thursday's practice -- their fourth since the trade -- learning the particulars of playing off of Cousins and Davis when they have the ball.

"I think that's the only way we can be effective -- if everybody tries to be aggressive like they were before," Davis said. That's all I try to do. That's what I try to get these guys to do."

The excitement of new beginnings has given way to a motivation to figure it all out.

"That's gone," Davis said about the post-trade elation. "Now it's time to start winning."