On the strength of 18 three-pointers, the Cleveland Cavaliers destroyed the Houston Rockets by a score of 124-89.
Make it five straight wins for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even without dynamic rookie Evan Mobley, the Cavs were able to take care of business and hand the Houston Rockets a 35-point loss. Like Cleveland, Houston was also on a hot streak, winning eight of their previous 10 games. Houston was without a few of their key players (Christian Wood, Kevin Porter Jr., Eric Gordon, Jalen Green, John Wall, Daniel House Jr.) which may have played a factor in the final differential.
The major difference between the two teams was three-point shooting. Houston struggled from deep, going just 5-29 while the Cavaliers connected on 18 of 40 attempts. Whenever a team makes 13 more threes than the other it will usually be a lopsided victory and the was the case for the Cavs Wednesday.
It was mostly a group effort scoring wise, but Darius Garland led the way with 21 points. Garland was 7-11 from the field including being tied for a team-high three makes from deep. Isaac Okoro joined Garland as the only players to score 20 or more points. Okoro made seven of nine field goals (3-3 3PT) as his recent scoring surge continues. Okoro is averaging 18.5 points per game over his last four games while showing signs of improvement offensively.
Since the Cavaliers were without Evan Mobley someone had to step in and that someone was Dean Wade. Wade came through with a 16 point 10 rebound performance and contributed to the downtown onslaught making three of five attempts.
Kevin Love also made three shots from deep as he finished with 15 points, his six straight game with 10 or more points off the bench. Love has made just over 50% of his three-point attempts in December and has been a valuable player off the bench.
