Despite Harden’s 40, Rockets Suffer Bad Loss To Cavs, 117-108
Give Cleveland credit. The Cavs beat an outstanding Sixers team on the road in Philly the previous night before handing the Rockets their most disappointing loss of the season at the Q in Cleveland. Their point guard of the future, rookie Collin Sexton, is finally starting to show signs of prominence. They’ve have won two straight and are on a mini-roll. But, mind you, they’re still the Cavs, without LeBron, and in full-rebuilding mode. They’ll be one of the many teams in the Zion Williamson sweepstakes come June. As of now, they have no business beating Houston. The Rockets were without Chris Paul and just aren’t a Championship contender when he’s not on the court. But Houston doesn’t need to be a Championship contender to beat teams like Cleveland, teams in the tank race for the next evolution of talent, courtesy of Mike Krzyzewski and co. at Duke. The Rockets have James Harden, back to playing at an MVP-caliber level. The Beard had a great night, dropping 40 points and dishing out 13 dimes, but he didn’t have enough help without his backcourt mate CP3. Eric Gordon played well starting in place of Paul, scoring 28 points, the only other player who had much of an effect on the game besides Harden. EG, however doesn’t posses the same leadership skills that make CP3 one of the best point guards in NBA history. CP3’s importance is evident more than ever for the Rockets, as they have yet to win a game this season when he doesn’t take the floor (0-3). The Rockets are back to .500 with a 9-9 record. Things are not all doom and gloom. Despite losing half their games this season, Houston is only 2 games behind the Warriors (in the loss column) in a crowded, Western Conference that is as ruthless as it’s ever been. Clint Capela, who’s been playing out of his mind prior to this game, showed fatigue from the night before and was outplayed for the first time in many games, by the less-established Tristan Thompson, on the downside of his career, but nevertheless had one of his best games of the season, manning the paint for the Cavs with 16 points and 20 rebounds. Houston will hope to have CP3 back for the next game as they will take on one of the better point guards in the league, talent-wise, John Wall and the Washington Wizards. The Rockets will just have to put this game behind them and focus on what they can improve on moving forward. As we are already approaching a quarter of the way through the season, there is no time to dwell on the past.