Cavaliers: Collin Sexton outduels John Wall to take Cavs to 4-straigth wins

The Cavaliers were able to defeat the Rockets by 11 on Monday night, with Collin Sexton leading the Cavs to their 4th straight win.

Collin Sexton fell just shy of his career-high of 42 points, scoring 39 against John Wall and the Rockets. Sexton and Wall went back and forth all game, with neither man really playing any defense. Wall nearly matched Sexton’s point total with 32 on the night. The Cavaliers won the game 101-90 to extend their winning streak to four in a row. The Cavs are now 14-21 and showing signs of life heading into their last game of the first half on Wednesday against the Pacers.

For Monday’s game, Sexton wasn’t the only one who put up good stats. Jarrett Allen had 10 points and 15 assists, while Darius Garland put up 14 points but on a pretty bad night of shooting; going just 5-13 from the floor and 0-3 from the three-point line. Javale McGee had 10, while cedi Osman had 11. After having a big game against the 76ers, Isaac Okoro shot just 1-6 with five total points.

Dean Wade, who started again for the Cavs, only had eight points on the night but was a +/- of 14 on the night, and went 3-5  from the floor, while 2-4 from three.

The Cavs benefited some from the Rockets, who have been without Christian Wood for some time, and since then has dropped 12 games (counting Monday) in a row. Health has been a problem all year for the Rockets, and without Wood, they are struggling inside the paint especially. Only Wall and Victor Oladipo had double digits tonight, with Oladpio adding 20 points, but on just 8-21 shooting from the floor with only 2-6 from three.

Granted Wall and Oladipo did take 59% of the shots. That’s not going to help you win games.

Sexton and Garland both had their struggles and successes tonight. The distribution in key moments was great, but both men still turned the ball over seven and five times respectively. They also combined to shoot just 30% from behind the three-point line, with both Sexton and Garland putting up some awful shots. Garland air-balled hard in the second half, while Sexton seemingly takes three or four seconds to gather his feet to shoot from three. Both men need far more work from that range.

Yet, the hustle plays from Wade and rookie Lamar Stevens are really paying off. With Osman’s playmaking with the second team and the young combo-guards making more plays than mistakes, this team could, somehow, get back into the playoff race. The Cavs are only three games back with one more to play before the All-Star break. That’s about the time people think Kevin Love will be returning.

So who knows, things are still very possible.