Rockets vs. Cavaliers: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2016 Regular Season
The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their perfect season with a 128-120 win over the Houston Rockets Tuesday night.
James Harden was outstanding even in defeat, finishing with 41 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds. However, Kyrie Irving was nearly as good for the Cavaliers with 32 points and a handful of clutch shots throughout the night. He helped his team improve to 4-0 on the season while the Rockets fell to 2-2 with the loss.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, it's the best start for Cleveland since the 2000-01 season.
On the other hand, Matt Moore of CBS Sports believes this is a moral victory for the Rockets:
"That’s still a good loss for the Rockets. Hung in there, needed a few bounces that they didn’t get.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 2, 2016"
It was a relatively quiet scoring game for LeBron James, who had 19 points, but he made his presence felt with 13 rebounds and eight assists. Kevin Love rounded out the scoring from the Big Three with 24 points.
Houston had five players in double figures, although the story for the offense was the love of the outside shot. The Rockets finished 17-of-44 from three-point range, showing a lot of streakiness in both directions.
This simply wasn't enough to pull out a close game down the stretch.
Tied at 92-92 in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers broke things open with a 13-3 run to build a double-digit lead with six minutes remaining.
From there, the only thing keeping Houston in the game was Eric Gordon's lights-out shooting from beyond the arc, knocking down a pair of three-pointers to cut the lead to 113-109.
The two sides seemed to trade threes in an entertaining final few minutes, but back-to-back makes by J.R. Smith and Irving helped the Cavaliers extend the lead to 125-116 with 35 seconds remaining.
CBS Sports summed up the clutch play from the All-Star guard:
Cleveland knocked down its free throws to hold on in a high-scoring battle with plenty of impressive individual play.
The Rockets looked good offensively right out of the gate thanks to the strong play from Harden. The guard tallied 13 points and six assists in the first quarter to help earn a 35-29 advantage, while James was held scoreless.
Austin Carr of Fox Sports Ohio discussed the poor defense from the Cavs:
Harden's vision was truly impressive once he got into the lane, as he showed with this assist, courtesy of NBA TV:
He was also able to find players down the court, including this strong finish from Clint Capela, via the Rockets:
The momentum swung back in the Cavaliers' favor in the second quarter thanks to strong play from Irving and James. The home team outhustled its opponent on loose balls to regain the lead and hold it going into halftime.
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle summed up the quarter:
It took a late Houston run to keep it a 63-59 score at halftime. Everything looked good for Cleveland, with the exception of this free-throw attempt:
The action remained competitive in the second half with a third quarter that featured back-and-forth play and a lot of strong performances from role players on both sides, including Nene for Houston and Channing Frye for Cleveland.
Josh Eberley of Hoop magazine noted the team's leader taking a back seat:
Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com made a bold prediction heading into the start of the fourth quarter:
The game remained close at the start of the fourth quarter, but a 13-3 run helped Cleveland pull away. When the Rockets started to creep back with hot shooting from beyond the arc, the Cavaliers responded with big shots of their own.
This three-pointer by Irving effectively sealed the win in the final minute, via NBA TV:
Cleveland was able to hold on for the eight-point victory over Houston.
The Rockets will continue their difficult start to the year that includes seven of the first eight games on the road. They will travel to face the New York Knicks Wednesday before taking on the Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs.
Cleveland will have a day off before finishing its three-game homestand with a matchup against the 2-1 Boston Celtics.
Postgame Reaction
While Harden had a great individual showing, the Cavaliers were able to win with depth. This dominated the discussion after the game.
"I wouldn’t just stop with Kyrie (or James)," Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said, per Michael Singer of USA Today. "I’d just keep on going. ...LeBron now is surrounded by guys that can space, can shoot, can go one-on-one in their own right. He has a lot of weapons at his disposal and that’s not something you like."
Not only does the team have talent, the chemistry is also as strong as ever.
"We had different combinations in the fourth quarter and we just trust each other, especially with the pass," Irving said after the game, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
If the Big Three keeps playing at this level and the role players do their part, the Cavaliers will keep wining.
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