Wham's Game Preview: Cavs vs Rockets

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Game Day Preview 24-25(45).png

The Cavs return home for the second night of a back-to-back against the Houston Rockets, who defeated them 109-108 on Wednesday. The Cavs will be playing their third game on four nights with a lot of air miles in between. The Rockets have been off since Wednesday so they have had two days to rest and make adjustments.

The Cavs will have the home court advantage this time but the Rockets have the rest advantage. The Rockets are 14-6 on the road against 15-7 at home so playing on the road has not been a problem.

The Cavs have lost two straight after the shocking upset by the depleted 76ers last night, a team that had lost 10 of 12. Now they have to play the ultra-physical and ultra-aggressive Rockets.

The Rockets are an elite defensive team, ranking 4th in opponents’ points per game at just under 108. They are 4th in effective field goal percentage and lead the NBA in opponents’ 2-point percentage. They are 18th in opponents’ 3-point percentage, so teams tend to shoot more 3’s against them.

The Cavs, minus Mobley, LeVert, and Okoro, scored 108 against them in Houston, right on the average. The Cavs could have easily won that game if not for unusually poor shooting. Mitchell and Merrill combined to go 2-or-14 on 3’s and the Cavs missed 28 threes as a team, going 13-for-41. And of course Garland missed FIVE free throws in a 1-point loss.

The Cavs also got a technical foul for illegal defense which cost them a point and the referees declined to call a foul on Sengun for deliberately pushing Allen to the floor after a made basket. Generally the refs allowed Sengun to do whatever he wanted in forcing his way to the rim.

LeVert, Mobley, Okoro, and Wade are listed as game time decisions. If LeVert can play that could be crucial as Jaylen Tyson was a -13 in five minutes on Wednesday. The rookie was in way over his head. The loss of Mobley was a big factor in the Cavs allowing the Sixers to score 132 points last night.

Offensively the Cavs just need to hit their shots. They were 13-for-19 on free throws and missed 28 3-pointers in Houston. Mitchell was 1-for-8 on 3’s.

Darius Garland had 26 points despite missing the five free throws. They couldn’t guard him. Jarrett Allen had 17 points on 11 shots. Ty Jerome had 18 points off the bench. He has scored 51 points in the last two games on 26 shots.

The Cavs had 20 offensive rebounds, which is probably a season high. Houston allows an average of 11, so it was a spectacular night for the Cavs on the offensive glass. I doubt they’ll get 20 this time so they’ll need to shoot better.

The Rockets are not good shooters, ranking 26th in effective field goal percentage, 27th in 3-point percentage, and 27th in 2-point percentage. They normally make 33% of their 3’s but hit 44% on Wednesday. Fred VanVleet, a 33% shooter from deep, made 7-for-12.

VanVleet is on a roll, having made 24 of 50 three-point attempts over his last six games. The Cavs need to challenge him better and treat him as a 48% shooter rather than a 33% guy. The Cavs were demonlished last night on 3's by the Sixers, so the last two games opponents made 44% and 54% from deep. This is a huge problem.

The Cavs had a lot of success with their zone defense Wednesday, which enabled them to come back and take the lead. Houston scored just 4 points in the first 8:25 of the 4th quarter. They went over 7 minutes without scoring a point. I expect the Cavs will use even more zone this time.

In addition to unusually good 3-point shooting the Rockets grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, which is not surprising given that they lead the NBA in that category. Evan Mobley being out was a big part of it. The Cavs need to give Allen more help on the defensive glass. Using more zone defense should help. The Rockets had 15 offensive rebounds in the first half but just 5 in the second.

Obviously the Rockets will be expecting more zone and will have spent the last two days in practice working on beating it, so it should be interesting to see what they come up with. VanVleet shooting 3’s will be part of the plan, along with getting the ball to Sengun at the free throw line and having him either distribute to cutters or body slamming Allen repeatedly to get in position for a shot.

Defensively the Cavs need to allow way fewer than 20 offensive boards and do better at contesting VanVleet’s 3’s. We could use a little help from the refs on Sengun’s battering ram and elbowing tactics in the post, but who knows if we’ll get it. I want to see Tristan Thompson knock Sengun down hard in the first quarter. Send an early message.

The Cavs also need to do a better job on Tari Eason and Cam Whitmore, who were +19 and +13 off the bench. Those two combined for 28 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots. They overwhelmed our bench. Niang and Tyson were -12 and -13. Niang has been -12 and -17 the last two games. With Mobley out we need him to step up but it's not happening.

Ty Jerome has been awesome the last two games, but he’ll need some help off the bench. If LeVert can go that would be ideal.

I’m sure the Cavs feel that they let a win slip away in Houston and will be motivated to get some payback at home. Houston will be well-rested and playing extremely physical basketball so the Cavs will have to match the physicality on the second nigh of a back-to-back, which won’t be easy, especially since the Cavs are more of a finesse team. It will be interesting to see how much the refs let the Rockets get away with.

The Rockets will make some adjustments to counter the Cavs’ zone and to reduce the Cavs’ offensive rebounds. The Cavs will make their own adjustments. It should make for a very interesting game.

Injury Report

CLEVELAND
Luke Travers - OUT (G-League)
Isaac Okoro - OUT (shoulder)
Dean Wade - OUT (knee)
Caris LeVert - QUESTIONABLE (wrist)
Evan Mobley - QUESTIONABLE (calf)

HOUSTON
Jabari Smith - OUT (hand)
N'Faly Diante - QUESTIONABLE (undisclosed)

 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-18: "Jhonkensy, Jameis, Olympics... Oh My!"

Rubber Rim Job on Spotify

Episode 3:16: "Let Kenny Cook: A Draft Night Special"
Top