Houston Rockets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Postgame Grades and Analysis
James Harden scored 21 points, Dwight Howard posted 17 points and 19 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets pulled away from the Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-93, at Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night.
The Cavaliers were of course without LeBron James, who continues to nurse knee and back injuries.
| James Harden | C- |
| Dwight Howard | A |
| Josh Smith | A |
| Trevor Ariza | B- |
| Patrick Beverley | D- |
| Rest of Team | A |
| Kevin Love | C |
| Kyrie Irving | A+ |
| Tristan Thompson | C- |
| J.R. Smith | F |
| Mike Miller | C |
| Rest of Team | D- |
Houston Rockets
James Harden: C-
James Harden had a rough go of it Wednesday night.
He had a lot of trouble finding the bottom of the net, whether it was behind the three-point line (2-of-7) or on drives.
Harden didn't get some of the calls he usually gets around the basket, and as a result, he forced up some tough layups that did not go down.
He also exhibited some sloppy ball-handling, committing seven turnovers.
Harden ended with 21 points off 6-of-18 shooting and tallied nine assists and seven rebounds.
Dwight Howard: A
Early on, Dwight Howard struggled, missing a lot of easy shots around the rim. Then, the big man took over.
Howard thoroughly dominated the glass in this contest, pulling down 19 rebounds, 10 of them coming on the offensive end. Yes, 10.
Dwight also set some great screens and did a superb job rolling off them for easy buckets.
The star center scored 17 points off 6-of-13 shooting to go along with his rebound fest.
Josh Smith: A
Josh Smith was sensational.
The versatile forward put in 16 points in 26 minutes off the bench, going an efficient 7-of-10 from the floor and taking good shots. He even hit a three-pointer to ice the game with under a minute to go.
He also made an impact defensively, including an incredible block on Kyrie Irving, which led to a backbreaking Corey Brewer three-pointer late in the game.
Smith chipped in four rebounds and a couple of blocks. Best of all, he was a game-high plus-20.
Trevor Ariza: B-
Trevor Ariza was huge for the Rockets in the first half, scoring all of his 13 points and going 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
His first 24 minutes were key, as the production came during a time when Harden and Howard were really struggling. As a matter of fact, Harden and Howard combined for as many points as Ariza scored in that first half.
Ariza added six rebounds and five steals to go along with his scoring output.
He shot 5-of-13 overall.
Patrick Beverley: D-
Patrick Beverley struggled in the win.
He shot only 3-of-10 and missed on six of his seven looks from distance, most of them coming from the left corner. They were good looks, too, but Beverley just could not get them to go down.
The floor general finished with seven points and six rebounds.
Rest of Team: A
You had to like the contributions of Donatas Motiejunas and Brewer, who combined for 22 points.
Motiejunas went 5-of-10 and made some great dives to the rim. He also made some nice passes, including a sweet behind-the-back feed to Howard for a dunk.
Brewer shot 4-of-8 and made a big trey late, which served as a significant momentum-swinger.
Jason Terry tallied six points off the pine and hit an enormous three to put Houston up double digits with three minutes to go.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Kevin Love: C
Kevin Love labored all night.
He missed his first eight shots and ended up shooting 7-of-19, misfiring on all three of his long-range tries. Love even struggled at the free-throw line, where he shot 3-of-6.
The big man had an awful lot of difficulty scoring against Houston's big bodies inside.
Love put up solid counting numbers, tallying 17 points and 16 rebounds, but he just did not have a very efficient game.
Kyrie Irving: A+
Kyrie Irving was the lone bright spot for Cleveland in the loss.
Actually, merely calling him a bright spot may be doing him a disservice, because he was outstanding.
Irving poured in a season-high 38 points off 15-of-26 shooting, finishing some unbelievably difficult layups around the rim, drilling some mid-range jumpers and displaying his usual fine ball-handling.
Irving also went 4-of-6 from deep.
It's a shame his teammates could not follow suit.
Tristan Thompson: C-
Tristan Thompson made a nice impact on the offensive glass, pulling down five offensive rebounds, but, like Love, he did not finish well over the Rockets' length, going only 2-of-7 from the floor. Also, he did a miserable job of keeping Howard off the boards.
Thompson posted 11 points and six rebounds.
J.R. Smith: F
J.R. Smith didn't exactly have a stellar Cavaliers debut.
He went 0-of-5 from the floor and played some matador defense. He looked very uncomfortable in Cleveland's offense, although that was to be expected considering it was his first game with the team.
Also, in Smith's defense, two of his five misses came on half-court shots at the end of the quarters, and another two came on forced jumpers late in the shot clock.
Smith went scoreless in 18 minutes.
Mike Miller: C
Mike Miller played 24 minutes and made a minimal impact.
He buried one triple and recorded five points and three boards. Of course, Miller's mere presence helps spread the floor, so he has that going for him.
Rest of Team: D-
As has been the case for the good majority of the year, the Cavs' role players did not exactly contribute that much.
James Jones was able to knock down a pair of threes, but that was essentially the extent of the production.
Shawn Marion went 1-of-6 off the bench, and Matthew Dellavedova registered five points and four rebounds. Dellavedova did do a decent job on Harden, though, so there's that.
What's Next?
The Rockets will head to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers will trek out west to face the Golden State Warriors Friday night at 10:30 p.m. ET.
