Rockets at Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from an embarrassing loss with an easy win and hope to finish strong as they try to lock up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers will try to avoid a letdown on Tuesday when they host the Houston Rockets, who are desperate for wins after dropping into the No. 8 spot in the West with a loss on Sunday.
Cleveland suffered a 104-95 loss at Brooklyn on Thursday but made some changes between games and looked like a different team in a 107-93 drubbing of the New York Knicks on Saturday. “(Saturday) before the game we talked about the last 10 games … focusing on better defensively, physicality and transition,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue told reporters. “I think (the Knicks) only had two points in transition tonight. We have to keep taking steps forward defensively and tonight we did that.” The Rockets dropped a 104-101 decision at Indiana on Sunday and sit a half-game ahead of the ninth-place Dallas Mavericks in the West. The loss was the fourth in five games overall and the fourth straight on the road for Houston, which will play five of its final seven games at home after finishing up the two-game trip in Cleveland.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, ROOT (Houston), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (36-38): Houston has a favorable closing schedule with five straight against sub-.500 teams ending the regular season but has to get through Cleveland, Chicago and Oklahoma City before reaching that stretch. All-Star James Harden is doing his part and finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and eight assists on Sunday, but the Rockets went 7-of-33 from 3-point range in the loss. A strong finish could get Houston as high as sixth in the West but the focus is more on a three-team scrum for the seventh and eighth spots that includes Dallas and Utah.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (52-21): The win in New York was keyed by LeBron James and his 42nd career triple-double, and the star is taking his role as a distributor seriously. “I went with the mindset to play my game and getting guys involved is a part of the game,” James told reporters. “I had some good looks but I had some great-look passes for my guys. I am glad I was able to help my team.” James is bringing up his level of play as the regular season draws to a close and is averaging 31.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists in the last four games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers F Channing Frye is 1-of-14 from 3-point range in the last three games.
2. Rockets F Michael Beasley scored nine points in 22 minutes on Sunday, snapping a string of nine straight games in double figures.
3. Harden was held to 11 points on 2-of-10 shooting and committed eight turnovers when Houston suffered a 91-77 home loss to Cleveland on Jan. 15.