Rockets Look to the ‘Land to Start a New Streak
The Rockets, fresh off their most heartbreaking loss of the season last night in Detroit, get back to work tonight in Cleveland as they will try and build on Capela’s dominance and start a new winning streak. The Cavaliers, in their first season since LeBron James left for L.A., is in full rebuilding mode and is arguably the league’s worst team. The Rockets will try and capitalize on this fact and get back on the winning side of the box score. Being the second night of a back-to-back against a clearly inferior opponent, Houston is thinking long-term and resting Chris Paul. As we all know, the Rockets’ floor general is injury prone and nothing would sting more than CP3 getting injured in a game Houston should win without his contributions. James Harden has a chance to redeem himself after a scoreless overtime last night in which his shot selection was poor to say the least. The Cavs played last night as well, and had their best win of the season, shocking the Sixers in Philly. The Rockets will need to mainly focus on the Cavs young backcourt of Collin Sexton, Rodney Hood, and Cedi Osman on the perimeter. They’ll also rely on Capela to hold back the feisty Tristan Thompson in the paint, which shouldn’t be an issue with the way Clint is playing. Houston is determined to avoid any poor losses against inferior opponents for the rest of the season. Despite this being the second night of a back-to-back, the Rockets should be able to battle any fatigue from last night’s grueling, physical overtime loss. The Cavs shouldn’t put up much of a fight, and if the Rockets stick to the fundamentals of the game plan, this game should be the first W of a new winning streak.
Quicken Loans Arena – Cleveland, Ohio
6:30 PM CT – ATT Sportsnet