Cleveland Cavaliers ground Houston Rockets in blowout fashion

Cleveland Cavaliers rebound from a disappointing loss

The Cleveland Cavaliers banked on a strong start to secure a dominant 113-95 victory on the road over an equally young Houston Rockets team. Bouncing back from a disappointing loss, the Cavs get back on track midway through the three-game road trip to improve to 30-20 in the standings.

Cleveland completely dominated in Houston, never really falling behind–save for the opening possession–eventually erecting a lead that rose to as much as 32 points by the third period despite missing their best player in the just-announced first-time All-Star starter Donovan Mitchell.

Darius Garland took over the driver’s seat, scoring a game-high 26 points to go with nine assists and four steals for the Cavs as Evan Mobley continued his hot streak with a double-double of 21 and 10, while Jarrett Allen joined that party with 14 and 10 of his own.

On the other hand, Rockets’ forwards Jabari Smith, Kenyon Martin Jr., and Alperen Sengun each tallied 14 points but their leading scorer Jalen Green was limited to only seven markers off an awful 22 percent shooting from the field.

The Cavs will look to close the road trip with another solid win

A contrast to the previous game wherein all the reserves tallied a combined 12 total points, six Cavaliers players notched double-figures against the Rockets, including Dean Wade with 15 points, spot-starter Caris LeVert with 12, and bench gunner Cedi Osman adding 10 in the win.

With zero winning streaks yet in 2023, apart from the 3-0 start to the year, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff no doubt wants to see some consistency from the young core amid adversity. With starters in and out of the lineup, the Cavs were able to adjust early in the season but have floundered as of late.

Looking to avoid repeating the struggle during the second half of the season last year, the team will have to clean it up and rebound from their recent woes after having gone just 8-6 since ringing in the new year.

The Cleveland Cavaliers remain in fifth in the uber-competitive Eastern Conference but are still only two games behind the third-placed Milwaukee Bucks. They will have less than 24 hours to recover prior to facing off against the surging Oklahoma City Thunder for the final leg of the three-game road trip.