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After a frustrating loss to the Knicks, who had lost four straight and were missing their best defensive player, the Cavs head south for their first meeting of the season with the Houston Rockets, owners of the NBA’s worst record at 11-37. The Rockets are 7-15 at home. They have lost 14 of their last 15 games, including a 108-103 home loss to Washington last night, which came in with a road record of 9-16. The Cavs had a travel day yesterday.
The Cavs will likely be without Donovan Mitchell, who reaggravated a groin injury in the last five seconds of Tuesday’s game.
The Rockets are the worst offensive team in the Association in terms of offensive efficiency (points per possession). On top of that, their second leading scorer, former food tossing and gun packing Cavalier Kevin Porter Jr, is out. The Cavs rank second in defensive efficiency so it's the league's worst offense (without their starting point guard and second leading scorer) against the second best defense. Last night they scored 103 against Washington, which is an average team defensively.
Porter, now in his fourth season but still only 22 years old, has settled in as a legitimate starter but not a star. He averages 19.1 points per game but his shooting percentages of 43.7% overall and 34.6% from deep are not impressive. He puts up over 15 shots per game to get those 19 points. His assists per game are down from the last two years despite playing more minutes. Bottom line is he has not become the franchise cornerstone that some predicted but he seems to be a solid starter who will have a long career assuming he stays out of trouble off the court.
Remember this quote after his rookie season?
The Cavs have big plans for Porter in Year 2. He has the best chance to be the team’s foundational piece and sources say he is at the top of the Cleveland’s young player hierarchy, considered untouchable, to the point where teams won’t even ask about him in trades anymore. - Chris Fedor
And these quotes from a couple of guys who have been around the league once or twice:
If we get him to reach his potential (he can) be the cornerstone of an organization. His skill set is what the NBA is. - Bickerstaff
I think we really haven’t even tapped into his potential yet. He’s really incredible, what he will be capable of in the future. - Kevin Love
I'm not sure those quotes aged very well. Maybe we’ll get to see KPJ when the Rockets come to Cleveland later in the season.
The other thing that stands out about the Rockets besides their record and lack of offensive punch is their youth. Their starters tonight are 19, 20, 20, 22, and 34 years old. They have five players on their bench 21 or younger.
They aren’t bad at scoring inside (13th in points in the paint) but they’re 28th in fast break points, 28th in effective field goal percentage, and 29th in 3-point percentage. Missing all those 3’s doesn’t phase them, however, as they rank 10th in 3-point frequency. Just keep shooting them until you start making them, I guess. As a team they are just under 35% from deep, which means they’ll probably hit 55% tonight.
The Rockets also rank 30th in assists (they’re ball hogs) and turnovers (who cough it up more than anybody despite not passing much). As a result of all those turnovers they give up more fast break points than anybody.
The one area they excel is offensive rebounding, where they actually lead the NBA. They have two 6’11” players on the front line along with the super athletic Jalen Green and 6’7” Kenyon Martin. They miss a ton of shots but also grab a lot of offensive rebounds, so the Cavs need to block out and get those defensive boards. The Rockets are also above average at drawing fouls, ranking 10th in free throws per game. The numbers paint a picture of a young, athletic team that is not very skilled (lots of turnovers and missed shots), but uses their length and athleticism to get offensive rebounds and get to the foul line.
Defensively they’re slightly better, ranking 28th in defensive efficiency. They defend the paint well (7th) but not so much the 3-pointer (23rd). Opponents put up more 3’s per possession against the Rockets than against any other team, maybe because they don't want to deal with their Twin Towers at the rim. Their big problem is ranking 30th in fast break points allowed, but that’s mostly due to the turnovers. KPJ leads the team in turnovers at 3.6 per game so maybe that won’t be as much of a problem tonight.
Jalen Green, the #1 pick in last year’s draft, leads the Rockets in scoring at 22.1 points per game. He’s not that efficient, however, averaging 44% overall and 33% on 3’s. Eric Gordon, age 34, is starting at point guard with Porter out. He’s shooting 43% and 35%. He only had 9 points last night in 31 minutes and will be playing his third game in four days.
Kenyon Martin, 6’7”, is the small forward, averaging 11 points and 5 rebounds. Jabari Smith, Jr, 6’11, 220, is the power forward averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds on just 39% and 31%. The center is Alperin Sengun, 6’11”, 243, who was the #16 pick in 2021. He is having a solid second year at 15 points and 9 boards while shooting 57%. Sengun had a triple/double last night at 21/11/10 with 3 steals and 2 blocks. He was 10-for-16 from the field.
The Mobley/Smith and Allen/Sengun matchups of 6'11" players should be interesting to watch.
In terms of shot frequency the Rockets rank 9th in shots at the rim, 10th in 3-point shots, and 23rd in mid-range shots so they go for layups or 3’s as much as possible. They rank 23rd in accuracy at the rim and 29th in 3-point accuracy (cleaningtheglass.com) so they’re still a work in progress.
The key for the Cavs is to make a decent percentage of their 3-point shots, score transition points off turnovers, defend the paint, and above all help the bigs on the defensive glass.
Another reason why the Rockets rank last in giving up fast break points is that when they crash the offensive glass and fail to get the rebound they are vulnerable to the break, so the key is to get those defensive rebounds and transition off them. When Allen or Mobley contest a shot the wings need to help out on the defensive glass. Last night the Rockets had 17 offensive rebounds but still only scored 103 points because they only shot 40%. They’re just really bad shooters. But if you give them second and third chances they're likely to score.
I’m assuming Donovan Mitchell will not play and probably not make the trip, which concludes tomorrow night in Oklahoma City. That will be a tough one as the Thunder has won five of seven and are off tonight while the Cavs have to play and travel. It would be good if the Cavs (for once) don’t play down to the competition and instead get out to a comfortable lead (stop laughing!) so nobody has to play a lot of minutes. But don’t count on it, especially on the road.
The Cavs will likely be without Donovan Mitchell, who reaggravated a groin injury in the last five seconds of Tuesday’s game.
The Rockets are the worst offensive team in the Association in terms of offensive efficiency (points per possession). On top of that, their second leading scorer, former food tossing and gun packing Cavalier Kevin Porter Jr, is out. The Cavs rank second in defensive efficiency so it's the league's worst offense (without their starting point guard and second leading scorer) against the second best defense. Last night they scored 103 against Washington, which is an average team defensively.
Porter, now in his fourth season but still only 22 years old, has settled in as a legitimate starter but not a star. He averages 19.1 points per game but his shooting percentages of 43.7% overall and 34.6% from deep are not impressive. He puts up over 15 shots per game to get those 19 points. His assists per game are down from the last two years despite playing more minutes. Bottom line is he has not become the franchise cornerstone that some predicted but he seems to be a solid starter who will have a long career assuming he stays out of trouble off the court.
Remember this quote after his rookie season?
The Cavs have big plans for Porter in Year 2. He has the best chance to be the team’s foundational piece and sources say he is at the top of the Cleveland’s young player hierarchy, considered untouchable, to the point where teams won’t even ask about him in trades anymore. - Chris Fedor
And these quotes from a couple of guys who have been around the league once or twice:
If we get him to reach his potential (he can) be the cornerstone of an organization. His skill set is what the NBA is. - Bickerstaff
I think we really haven’t even tapped into his potential yet. He’s really incredible, what he will be capable of in the future. - Kevin Love
I'm not sure those quotes aged very well. Maybe we’ll get to see KPJ when the Rockets come to Cleveland later in the season.
The other thing that stands out about the Rockets besides their record and lack of offensive punch is their youth. Their starters tonight are 19, 20, 20, 22, and 34 years old. They have five players on their bench 21 or younger.
They aren’t bad at scoring inside (13th in points in the paint) but they’re 28th in fast break points, 28th in effective field goal percentage, and 29th in 3-point percentage. Missing all those 3’s doesn’t phase them, however, as they rank 10th in 3-point frequency. Just keep shooting them until you start making them, I guess. As a team they are just under 35% from deep, which means they’ll probably hit 55% tonight.
The Rockets also rank 30th in assists (they’re ball hogs) and turnovers (who cough it up more than anybody despite not passing much). As a result of all those turnovers they give up more fast break points than anybody.
The one area they excel is offensive rebounding, where they actually lead the NBA. They have two 6’11” players on the front line along with the super athletic Jalen Green and 6’7” Kenyon Martin. They miss a ton of shots but also grab a lot of offensive rebounds, so the Cavs need to block out and get those defensive boards. The Rockets are also above average at drawing fouls, ranking 10th in free throws per game. The numbers paint a picture of a young, athletic team that is not very skilled (lots of turnovers and missed shots), but uses their length and athleticism to get offensive rebounds and get to the foul line.
Defensively they’re slightly better, ranking 28th in defensive efficiency. They defend the paint well (7th) but not so much the 3-pointer (23rd). Opponents put up more 3’s per possession against the Rockets than against any other team, maybe because they don't want to deal with their Twin Towers at the rim. Their big problem is ranking 30th in fast break points allowed, but that’s mostly due to the turnovers. KPJ leads the team in turnovers at 3.6 per game so maybe that won’t be as much of a problem tonight.
Jalen Green, the #1 pick in last year’s draft, leads the Rockets in scoring at 22.1 points per game. He’s not that efficient, however, averaging 44% overall and 33% on 3’s. Eric Gordon, age 34, is starting at point guard with Porter out. He’s shooting 43% and 35%. He only had 9 points last night in 31 minutes and will be playing his third game in four days.
Kenyon Martin, 6’7”, is the small forward, averaging 11 points and 5 rebounds. Jabari Smith, Jr, 6’11, 220, is the power forward averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds on just 39% and 31%. The center is Alperin Sengun, 6’11”, 243, who was the #16 pick in 2021. He is having a solid second year at 15 points and 9 boards while shooting 57%. Sengun had a triple/double last night at 21/11/10 with 3 steals and 2 blocks. He was 10-for-16 from the field.
The Mobley/Smith and Allen/Sengun matchups of 6'11" players should be interesting to watch.
In terms of shot frequency the Rockets rank 9th in shots at the rim, 10th in 3-point shots, and 23rd in mid-range shots so they go for layups or 3’s as much as possible. They rank 23rd in accuracy at the rim and 29th in 3-point accuracy (cleaningtheglass.com) so they’re still a work in progress.
The key for the Cavs is to make a decent percentage of their 3-point shots, score transition points off turnovers, defend the paint, and above all help the bigs on the defensive glass.
Another reason why the Rockets rank last in giving up fast break points is that when they crash the offensive glass and fail to get the rebound they are vulnerable to the break, so the key is to get those defensive rebounds and transition off them. When Allen or Mobley contest a shot the wings need to help out on the defensive glass. Last night the Rockets had 17 offensive rebounds but still only scored 103 points because they only shot 40%. They’re just really bad shooters. But if you give them second and third chances they're likely to score.
I’m assuming Donovan Mitchell will not play and probably not make the trip, which concludes tomorrow night in Oklahoma City. That will be a tough one as the Thunder has won five of seven and are off tonight while the Cavs have to play and travel. It would be good if the Cavs (for once) don’t play down to the competition and instead get out to a comfortable lead (stop laughing!) so nobody has to play a lot of minutes. But don’t count on it, especially on the road.
