Cousins had 44 points, 24 rebounds and 10 rebounds to become the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1972 to have at least 40 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in the same game.
Anthony Davis scored 34 points before fouling out midway through the first overtime as New Orleans improved to four games over .500 for the first time in three years after winning for the fifth time in six games. E-Twaun Moore scored 15 points, Jrue Holiday added 12 and Darius Miller came off the bench to score 10.
Jerian Grant led the Bulls with 22 points and 13 assists. Robin Lopez also had 22 points, Zach LaVine scored 19, Justin Holiday had 15, Lauri Markkanen finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds and Nikola Mirotic scored 14 off the bench.
Cousins scored the first five points of the second overtime, but Lopez answered with back-to-back layups.
Moore's 3-pointer pushed the lead back to four, but Markkanen made two free throws with 31 seconds left.
Cousins missed a shot, but tipped the rebound to Jrue Holiday as the shot clock was turned off. Cousins was fouled and made both free throws with eight seconds left.
The Bulls led by 18 with 7:33 left in the fourth quarter before Cousins led a Pelicans comeback.
He scored nine points, but Chicago maintained a 110-100 lead after a Lopez basket.
Davis scored seven points during a 12-0 run that ended with his dunk and a 112-110 Pelicans lead with 22 seconds left.
Markkanen's layup tied the score before Davis made two free throw with three seconds left.
Justin Holiday was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left. He made the first two, but missed the third, sending the game to overtime with the score tied at 114.
After Davis fouled out, Cousins made two free throws to give New Orleans a one-point lead with 1:49 left in the first overtime.
Markkanen was fouled and made the first to tie the score, but missed the second with 31 seconds left.
The Pelicans had a chance to win it, but Ian Clark missed badly on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
--Field Level Media
Chicago | New Orleans | |
Jerian Grant 22 | Scoring | DeMarcus Cousins 44 |
Jerian Grant 13 | Assists | DeMarcus Cousins 10 |
Lauri Markkanen 17 | Rebounds | DeMarcus Cousins 23 |
Jerian Grant 8 | Free Throws Made | DeMarcus Cousins 13 |
Jerian Grant 2 | Steals | DeMarcus Cousins 4 |
Lauri Markkanen 2 | Blocks | DeMarcus Cousins 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Chicago | 128 | 48.9 | 8-31 | 30-34 | 31 | 54 | 6 | 8 | 24 |
New Orleans | 132 | 41.6 | 16-44 | 22-26 | 32 | 55 | 3 | 14 | 13 |