The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of three teams in the NBA with a worse record than the Houston Rockets, and came in Wednesday for the second night in a row with 10 losses in their last 11 games.
Still, it still wasn’t enough for the Rockets (11-19) to finish their streak of defeats, which is now nine games and the longest in the franchise in more than 20 years. Overall, Houston is 0-9 since Christian Wood’s ankle injury on Feb. 4 after going 7-1 in the previous eight games.
With the Rockets suddenly out of size after Wood’s injury and the release of DeMarcus Cousins, Cavs center Jarrett Allen (26 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocks) dominated PJ Tucker, Jae’Sean Tate and all Houston front track pieces in addition to Justin Patton. Allen was dominant in Cleveland’s 112-96 win (cash score), which shot 10 of 11 (90.9%).
John Wall led the small-scale Rockets with 20 points of defeat.
“The defense wasn’t very good,” head coach Stephen Silas said after the game. “The offense was disarticulated. Bad all the way. “
Wall, a five-time All-Star and clear team leader, offered more specific criticism of Houston’s sudden lack of size. “We definitely need some kind of paint presence,” Wall said from Cleveland.
Veteran guards Victor Oladipo and Eric Gordon played for the Rockets after being classified as questionable with injuries, but that was still not enough. Oladipo and Gordon scored 17 points per game, but shot just 3 of 15 from the 3-point range (20.0%). Meanwhile, the Cavaliers shot a 16 of 36 against triples (44.4%), led by a 4 of 4 from Dylan Windler.
The Rockets will end a two-game road trip Friday in Tampa, where the Toronto Raptors will play this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central. For now, here’s a collection of highlights and post-game reactions from Cleveland.
Stephen Silas
John Wall
Victor Oladipo