Three takeaways from Cleveland Cavaliers loss to Houston Rockets

At the start of the six-game home stand for the Cavs, Cleveland looked to be right on track, winning back-to-back games against the Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks. The Cavs welcomed former foe Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. 

Houston jumped out to a lead early and led after the first quarter, starting the game on a 7-0 run. De’Andre Hunter scored early for Cleveland, putting up eight points in the first. 

After some back and forth in the second quarter, Cleveland outscored Houston by 13 and was only trailing by four going into the fourth. Donovan Mitchell started to catch fire to start the quarter, immediately hitting two threes before assisting on another to Dean Wade, cutting the lead to two.

That was as close as Cleveland would get it, though, losing 114-104. What can we take away from this performance?

Take advantage of the free ones

Cleveland shot 20/32 from the free-throw line, just about a 63% clip overall. Evan Mobley was the leading culprit of this, going 4/10 from the line, bringing his season percentage to 60.4%. In November, Mobley has shot just 53.6% on free throws. 

If you want to beat good teams like Houston, you need to clean up the free-throw shooting; you can’t be leaving 12 points on the board.

Giving up leftovers

Houston had 16 offensive rebounds last night, they lead the NBA in this stat at 16.4 per game. Six of those came from Steven Adams, as Houston ran their jumbo lineup, and it paid off. Those 16 extra chances led to 21 second-chance points for the Rockets. 

Houston out-rebounded Cleveland 51-39, with Alperen Sengun and Adams combining for 22 boards while Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen combined for 13. Those second-chance opportunities led to the Rockets shooting nine more shots than the Cavs. 

You need your shooters

Cleveland shot 12/39 (31%) from three, with eight of those made by Hunter and Mitchell. It is clear that the injuries to Darius Garland and Max Strus, along with Sam Merrill not playing in this game that Cleveland needs these shooters. 

The looks that Cleveland was getting were good ones; they just could not knock them down. Lonzo Ball got some great ones, but shot 2/8 on the night. 

The combination of giving up 16 extra chances, missing your free throws, and not shooting the ball effectively led to Cleveland losing this game. Cleveland was in this game, though, as Houston led most of the game, and the fourth was full of back-and-forth action. 

They are going to need to clean up these aspects as they take on the Pacers on Friday in NBA Cup play.