NBA: Rockets beat Cavaliers to snap winless skid at home
Jalen Green #0 of the Houston Rockets looks to pass around Kevin Love #0 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Toyota Center on February 02, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
The Houston Rockets snapped an 11-game home losing skid with a 115-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday.
Christian Wood scored 21 points and Kevin Porter Jr. added a late 3-pointer plus an alley-oop against his former team.
Wood followed a three-point play from Cavaliers rookie Evan Mobley that cut the Houston lead to 105-102 with 2:44 left with a 10-footer and a 3-pointer that keyed a 10-2 closing run. Porter, who totaled 16 points and seven assists, helped seal the Rockets’ first home win since Dec. 8.
Rockets rookie Jalen Green, picked second overall in the 2021 NBA Draft and one spot ahead of Mobley, tallied 21 points, five rebounds and five assists to emerge from a prolonged slump.
Christian Wood & Jalen Green led the @HoustonRockets to the win in H-town!@ChrisWood_5: 21 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST @JalenGreen: 21 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST pic.twitter.com/zertB0TGiQ
— NBA (@NBA) February 3, 2022
Garrison Mathews and KJ Martin added 16 and 10 points, respectively, off the Houston bench.
Mobley paired a career-high 29 points with 12 rebounds while Kevin Love added 21 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. Love scored 19 in the second and third periods combined to keep the Cavaliers afloat, but they could not overcome a 15-point deficit and 12 missed free throws.
Mobley was effective early, tallying eight points and three boards to help the Cavaliers build their largest lead of the game at 17-10 early in the first quarter. But when Mathews sank a 3 through a foul the Rockets were within one point, and despite Mathews’ missed free throw, the Rockets later claimed the lead following back-to-back 3s from Mathews and Josh Christopher.
Rookie Alperen Sengun (nine points, eight rebounds, three assists) was instrumental in helping Houston extend to a 57-42 lead with his two-way play, but the Cavaliers used a late 9-2 run to cut into that deficit.
But Cleveland struggled to defend without fouling prior to the intermission, sending the Rockets to the line 29 times, the most by a team in any half this season. That helped Houston take a 64-53 lead at the half, despite Love and Mobley posting double-doubles.
