Cavaliers can't hit broad side of barn from charity stripe in 114-104 loss to Rockets
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BET WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - Wednesday night at Rocket Arena the Cleveland Cavaliers welcomed the Houston Rockets to Cleveland. The Cavs winners of two straight and three out four. While the Rockets come to Cleveland on a four-game winning streak and winners of nine of ten.
Last season the Rockets won both matchups by total of five points. The Rockets beat the Cavs in Houston 109-108 and then in Cleveland 135-131. Tonight, the Cavs knew they would have their hands full. Things remained the same as the Rockets defeated the Cavs 114-104.
The Rockets got off to a fast start taking a 5-0 lead even though Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson went with a big lineup starting Nae’Qwan Tomlin in a position usually occupied by a point guard. With 9:31 on the clock the Cavs hit their first shot from the field when De’Andre Hunter drained a three to cut the Houston lead to 7-4. Cleveland then tied the game 7-7 with 9:03 left in the opening quarter when Hunter hit another three from the top of the arc. With 7:31 left, someone other than Hunter scored from the field when Houston turned it over and Jarrett Allen hit Donovan Mitchell who drove the lane and tied the game 11-11. The Cavs then took their first lead 13-11 when Evan Mobley scored with 6:56 remaining. With 5:52 left a flagrant foul was called against Hunter after review, it was definitely a questionable ruling that benefitted the Rockets. Kevin Durant shot three free throws making all three and the Rockets had a 16-15 lead. The momentum definitely shifted in favor of the Rockets after the suspicious call. Tonight, the officiating crew was Nick Buchert, Gediminas Petraitis and Che Flores. After the call, the Rockets went on a 10-0 run to take a 23-15 lead with 3:34 left in the first quarter. Atkinson took a timeout. After the Rockets lead grew to double digits the Cavs had a chance to cut it to eight points when Dean Wade was fouled. The effort was fruitless as Wade missed both free throws and the Cavs trailed 25-15. When the quarter ended the Cavs trailed 33-19. The opening quarter was a statistical disaster for Cleveland as they shot 33% (7 of 21) from the field while Houston shot 52% (12 of 22). It was even worse from three-point range as the Rockets out shot the Cavs 40% (4 of 8) to 25% (3 of12). And believe it or not it was just as bad as Houston who were 5 of 5 from the free throw line while that Cavs were pathetic 2 of 6 including three straight misses. The Cavs Hunter as well as Houston’s Jabari Smith, Jr. and Reed Sheppard led in scoring with eight points each in the first 12 minutes.
After the suspect call in the first quarter the Rockets outscored the Cavs 20-4 to finish the opening period. Mobley put some life into the crowd with 10:59 left in the second quarter when he slammed home a dunk with an assist from Tyrese Proctor. The Cavs cut the lead to 33-24 when Mobley scored in the paint with 10:01 left. With 8:07 left the Rockets lead grew to 41-26 after Mobley turned the ball over and Aaron Holiday was fouled by Porter at the other end. Holiday hit both free throws. With 5:39 left on the clock after Kevin Durant hit a three to give Houston a 48-34 lead, Smith and Tomlin got into a shoving match under the basketball. The extracurricular activity was reviewed. Smith was accessed a personal foul, both players were accessed technicals. Tomlin hit one of two free throws, and the Cavs got possession of the ball, but could not take advantage. With 2:50 left in the half and the Cavs trailing 50-37 Mobley shot a jumper and the ball got stuck between the basket and the backboard. Cavaliers legendary pregame, halftime and postgame host Mike Snyder commented, “That’s the kind of night it’s been.” There would be a jump ball before. Houston took a timeout. With 1:09 left in the opening half the shenanigans by the official continued and aided by some great acting by Durant the Rockets took a 53-37 lead. Then at the other end Allen was called for an offensive foul that was pretty offensive that it was even called. Then after the play was reviewed it remained an offensive foul on Allen, it was his third personal foul of the first half. The Rockets then finished the quarter with little resistance from the Cavs knowing they could do anything they wanted, and the Cavs could not even get within three feet of them, or they would be accessed a foul and took a 57-40 lead into the locker room. The officiating crew who was definitely having some vision issues to say the least took their black jackets and also headed into the cover of their locker room. Aside from the blindfolded officiating the Cavs shot a miserable 34% (15 of 44) from the field, while the Rockets shot 44% (20 of 44). The Cavs were also atrocious from behind the three-point line as they shot 20% (4 of 20) which included 1 of 8 in the second quarter. Nothing went well as Cleveland also shot just 50% (6 of 12) from the free throw line. Durant led everyone in scoring with 13 first half points while Hunter led the Cavs with 11.
The third quarter began the same way the first half went with the Cavs looking like an AAU team against a varsity high school squad. With 8:50 left in the third quarter the Rockets were leading by 20 points 65-45 the Cavs looked like they were dead in the water. The game was over. There was nothing left to do but go through the motions for the final 21 minutes. Then there was movement in the water when the Cavs went on a 20-7 run and cut the Houston lead to 72-65 with 3:04 left on the third quarter clock when Hunter hit a three. Then with :30.9 left on the clock in the third the Cavs cut the lead, Houston lead to 74-69 when Allen scored in the paint after a miss. With :2.0 on the clock Dean Wade was fouled by Sheppard and as the night had gone for the Cavs, he only hit 1 of 2, but the Rockets lead was down to four points at 74-70 as they headed to the final quarter. Durant led all scorers with 20 points through three quarters while Mobley paced the Cavs with 18. The Cavs shot 56% (10 of 18) in the third quarter from the field while the Rockets shot 32% (8 of 25). Through three quarters the Cavs were getting beat badly on the boards 42-31.
The final quarter began with a Cavs turnover and turned into a Rockets three at the other end, Mitchell hit a three for Cleveland and then took advantage of a Rockets turnover and pulled the Cavs to within one point at 77-76 with 10:54 left in regulation. After the Rockets went up by five points Wade hit a three to trim their lead to 81-79 with 9:37 left. The Cavs disgusting and mind boggling terrible free throw shooting continued with 9:11 left in regulation when Mobley bricked two more free throws. With 7:58 left the Rockets took advantage of the Cavs poor shooting from the free throw line and built their lead back up to seven at 88-81. Atkinson called a timeout. With 6:43 left Mitchell pulled the Cavs to within three points with a fadeaway jumper in the paint. Then two points with 6:07 left when he buried a three. The Cavs defense seemed to disappear as every time the Cavs scored the Rockets responded and held a five point lead at the 5:01 mark of the final quarter. With 4:51 left Holiday was fouled by Mitchell and hit both free throws giving Houston a 97-90 lead. With 3:51 left after a Cavs turnover Holiday scored at the other end and was fouled by Porter, he hit the free throw as most NBA players do and gave the Rockets a 103-92 lead. The blindfolded free throw shooting continued with 3:37 left as Mobley missed two more making him 4 of 10 from the charity stripe on the night. Too little too late for the Cavs who could not hit the broad side of a barn from the free throw line as they dropped their fourth straight to Houston 114-104.
Alperen Sengun led all scorers with 28 points, 11 in the final quarter. Hunter led the Cavs in a losing effort with 25 points.
The Rockets outshot the Cavs from the field 45% (41 of 90) to 44% (36 of 81). The Cavs rebounded in the second have with their shooting as they went 21 of 37 in the final two quarters after shooting a miserable 15 of 44 in the opening half. Houston out did the Cavs in every category no need to add to the misery by recapping it all. Once again, the Cavs were outrebounded, and it was not even close 51-39. It is the 10th time in 16 games that Cleveland has been outrebounded.
The homestand will continue for the Cavs on Friday night at 7 pm when they host the Indiana Pacers (1-13, 0-8 road). The Cavs trail the all-time series 111-104, but lead at home (Richfield Coliseum, Rocket Arena) 66-44. Last season Pacers took the season series 3-1 with the Cavs’ only win coming in Indianapolis on January 14, 127-117.
POSTED 11/19/2025 22:10
Lake County Sentinel
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Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley misses a three point attempt in the Cavs 114-104 loss to Houston at Rocket Arena on Wednesday night. Photo by Tommy Shirer
