The Houston Roundball Review is an online basketball publication by: Kris Gardner, United States Basketball Writers Association member. Credentialed media member since 1997. USBWA approved online journalist. Voter of Katrina McClain, Naismith, USBWA, and Wooden awards.
HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers battled for 48 minutes Sunday night. James Harden's 16th triple-double of the season plus the Rockets' dominance on the offensive boards led the Rockets to a stirring 117-112 victory.
"This was big win for us in the sense of, you know, the champions," Mike D'Antoni said. "We haven't had one in a while. We beat Golden State. We beat San Antonio; but, that was earlier (in the season). And, we haven't had one (recently); so, this was good. This gives us a little boost.
"Hopefully, we don't have an emotional letdown Wednesday (home game against the Lakers); but, we have to take care of business. But, this helps."
The Rockets led 33-26 after the first quarter; but, the Cavs exploded in the second quarter with 41 points. Cleveland rained threes in the second period (7 for 11) while the Rockets went ice cold (2 for 9).
The Rockets were outscored 41-25 in the second and trailed 67-58 at halftime.
The Cavs stretched the lead to 14 (74-60) in the third ; but, 2 free throws from Trevor Ariza followed by back-to-back threes (Harden and Ryan Anderson) trim the Rockets' deficit to six (74-68) with 8:58 remaining in the third.
The Cavs pushed the lead back to double digits (81-69); but, Anderson started an 11-0 run with a three-point bucket. Harden capped the run with a driving lay-up. LeBron James nailed a 15-foot fade away jump shot; but, Lou Williams tied the game with a three-point shot.
Cleveland's Derrick Williams nailed a three; but, Nene scored lay-up followed by three made free throws from Eric Gordon and a running lay-up by Harden to finish the third quarter with a 7-0 Rockets' run and a 90-86 lead.
After the Rockets' third quarter run, the Cavs opened the fourth with a 10-4 spurt to lead 96-94.
Patrick Beverley drained a three-point shot for a 97-96 lead to begin basketball's version of the seesaw.
LeBron answered with a dunk. Cavs up 98-97.
Harden answered with a three-point shot. Rockets lead 100-98.
Deron Williams nailed a three. Cavs up 1.
Harden with a tip-in for a 102-101 Rockets lead. Then, Harden rebounded a missed three-point shot by LeBron and passed to Clint Capela for a dunk in transition.
The Cavs called timeout; but, LeBron threw a bad pass after the timeout.
Ryan Anderson made two free throws for a 106-101 lead. Beverley split two free throws twice; and, after LeBron's three-point basket and Kyrie Irving's tough banked in floater, the Rockets' lead shrunk to 108-106 with 4:19 remaining in the game.
Harden followed Kyrie's bucket with a Eurostep for the ages and scored a lay-up.
After another bad pass by LeBron, Beverley swished a three-point shot for a 116-107 lead with 1:53 on the game clock.
The Cavs managed to get as close as 4 points (116-112) with 15.9 seconds remaining; but, the Rockets closed out the game and picked up a hard fought win.
"It's just a win," Trevor Ariza said. "Obviously, it's somewhat of a measuring stick; but, yet, again, at the end of the day, it is a win in the regular season. It is what it is.
"The atmosphere was like a playoff game. The intensity was somewhat like a playoff intensity. It was a good preview of what it would be like playing in the playoffs. You have game like that throughout the year; but, again, it's still the regular season."
The Rockets outrebounded the Cavs 31-17 in the second half and outrebounded the Cavs 52-38 for the game. The Rockets improve to 2805 when outrebounding their opponents this season -- including 12-1 when doing so by double-digits.
