ONE TIME IN HOUSTON
After falling to the Knicks in a heartbreaker on Tuesday, the Cavaliers close out their three-game trip with a back-to-back – traveling to face off against the young Rockets on Thursday night before wrapping up the roadie on Friday night in Oklahoma City.
The Wine & Gold fell for the third time in their last four outings – and dropped their second straight to the Knicks on Tuesday night, with Donovan Mitchell’s game-tying layup attempt falling short at the end of regulation. The Two-Minute Report confirmed that Mitchell – in his first game back after missing the previous three – was fouled on the play, but that’s little consolation for a Cavs team trying to rediscover its rhythm. Controversy aside, Cleveland allowed the Knicks to drill 17 triples – falling to 0-12 on the season when an opponent connects on 15 or more.
The Rockets (11-37) are loaded with young talent – with 10 players 22-years or younger on the roster – but haven’t been able to put it all together again this year, coming into tonight’s contest having dropped 19 of their previous 21 outings, snapping a 13-game skid with a win over Minnesota earlier this week before falling to the Wizards last night. In that loss, Houston ran out to a 19-point edge before running out of gas after intermission.
The Cavs had won three straight in the series before falling here in Houston early last February. These two wrap up the season series in late March at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
NO. TWO PICK IN 2021
Perhaps the brightest of Houston’s young stars is high-octane guard Jalen Green, the 2nd overall pick one year ago.
Green comes into tonight’s contest as the Rockets leading scorer at an even 22.0ppg, missing just a single game this season. The California native has proven to be one of the league’s more explosive scorers, and he doesn’t turn 21 until next month. So far this year, Green has tallied seven games of at least 30 points and a pair of 40-point outings – including a career-best 42-point effort in Houston’s win over the T-Wolves on Monday night.
Green was good in his lone performance against the Cavaliers as a rookie – finishing with 21 points, five boards and five assists in the Rockets home win over Cleveland last year.
He’ll have to be good on both ends on Thursday night when he locks horns with Donovan Mitchell.
Mitchell returned from a groin injury on Tuesday night and, after shaking off some rust early, notched nine of his 24 points in the final period – going 9-for-24 overall from the floor, including 6-of-14 from long-range, adding a game-high eight assists in the loss. Tuesday’s outing was the 10th game this season that the 6th-year man from Louisville has drilled at least six triples.
Dating back to his Western Conference days, Mitchell has gone for at least 30 points six times against Houston, including each of the previous two – averaging 33.5 points and 8.5 assists in the two victories.
HOUSTON'S MOST IMPROVED PLAYER?
As good as Jalen Green has been for the Rockets, they’ve got to be just as happy with the player they selected 14 picks later in the 2021 Draft – Turkish big man, Alperen Sengun.
The rugged center should be in the running for the league’s Most Improved Player this season, upping his numbers across the board. He comes into tonight’s contest averaging 15.5ppg and 9.0rpg – having posted 14 double-doubles this season, with two triple-doubles in the mix, including last night’s loss to the Wizards, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Sengun was solid in two meetings against Cleveland one year ago, averaging 14.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in the series.
He’ll face off against Jarrett Allen for much of Thursday night’s affair. Cleveland’s All-Star big man is coming off an outstanding effort on Tuesday night in New York – finishing with a team-high-tying 24 points to go with a team-best 12 rebounds, going 12-for-17 from the floor in the loss.
Allen, who’s now posted 18 double-doubles on the year, has posted some solid games against the Rockets over his career, but struggled in two meetings last year – averaging just 8.5 points and 7.5 boards.