Rockets at Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been battling through a series of low points of late, but a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday might have been the lowest. The new-look Cavaliers will try to break out of the funk when they host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Cleveland made a move to shake up the roster on Monday with a three-team trade, sending away Dion Waiters and importing J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks.
“Trades like this are always difficult to make because there are relationships and bonds built and that was the case with Dion,” Cavaliers general manager David Griffin told reporters. “At the same time, we’re very excited to welcome Iman and J.R. to Cleveland. With their size and versatility, we think both Iman and J.R. can help our team on both ends of the court and we look forward to them joining us.” The Rockets have some experience adding new pieces to the roster and are still looking for the right mix with Josh Smith and Corey Brewer on the roster.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN, ROOT Southwest (Houston), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (23-11): Houston dropped four of its last six games and got the three-game road trip off to a tough start in a 114-105 loss at Chicago on Monday. Smith, who was moved out of the starting lineup in a win over Miami on Saturday, knocked down a 3-pointer to help give the team a late lead in Chicago but the Rockets ended up being outscored 31-16 in the final quarter. Smith matched his Houston-high with 21 points in the loss and is 16-of-29 from the field in the last two games after shooting 34.6 percent in his first five with the team.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (19-16): Cleveland is still without LeBron James for at least the next few games due to knee soreness and Kyrie Irving sat out Monday with a back injury as the team fell for the fifth time in six games. Waiters was announced in the starting lineup before being pulled just before game time and sent off along with seldom-used reserves Lou Amundson and Alex Kirk. “I didn't see them,” Kevin Love told reporters of the unusual exit. “I mean, I was on the floor when it had happened. I'm usually the first one out to go to the field for the ball, so I didn't get a chance to say anything to them.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Love is picking up some of the slack in James’ absence and is averaging 28.3 points in the last three games.
2. Rockets F Donatas Motiejunas is 17-of-30 from the field in the last three games.
3. Houston has taken four straight in the series and earned a 118-111 win in its trip to Cleveland last season.