There is no such thing as a perfect NBA schedule. Stretches that look impossible early in the season can become mundane and stretches of “easy” games can become a gauntlet.
Personally, I looked at this Utah Jazz-Cleveland Cavaliers-Memphis Grizzlies homestand as a tough early-season test for the Rockets. Obviously, the Rockets won the first game convincingly behind 56 points and 13 assists from James Harden.
The Cavs are a team with the same goal. Any team with LeBron James running the show is an automatic championship contender, no matter the wins or the quality of basketball on the court.
Cleveland comes into the game with the second-best offensive efficiency in the NBA (Houston is tied for third), but is dead-last in defense.
With the Cavs at 5-6, missing Tristan Thompson, and Isaiah Thomas still out with an injured hip, it might be tempting to call this a comfortable Rockets win. Of course, most serious basketball fans know it’s stupid to count out a team with LeBron and the talent the Cavs have assembled.
Derrick Rose still has moments of brilliance. They are even more common for Dwyane Wade. J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver, Iman Shumpert, Jae Crowder, and Jeff Green can all score from the wing and can fill up the hoop with triples. If the Rockets are late on their rotations, they’re going to get steamrolled. Don’t be surprised if the Cavs dust off Channing Frye after he got a DNP-CD against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
Oh, and that Kevin Love dude is really good.
Harden missed a layup after that, but grabbed a rebound and threw an alley-oop to Clint Capela, who finished for Houston’s first basket since Tucker’s 3. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw to make it 115-11 with just over a minute remaining.
James made a layup on the other end, but Capela made another basket after a grabbing the rebound on a miss by Harden to put Houston back up by 4 with 10.7 seconds left.
Capela, who finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, blocked a shot by James in the final seconds to secure the win.
Cavaliers: G Derrick Rose sat out because of soreness in his left ankle. Rose missed four straight games after spraining his ankle on Oct. 20 before returning to play the last two. But the ankle was still bothering him, forcing him to sit out again on Thursday night. … Shumpert started in his place and finished with seven points. .. Love had 17 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Rockets: F Luc Mbah a Moute missed because of a bruised left knee. … Gordon added 20 points. … Harden made 13 of 14 free throws
Harden has scored 30 or more points in three of the last four games, highlighted by a 56-point performance in a win over the Jazz on Sunday. It’s the second triple-double of the season for Harden and the 33rd of his career.
The Rockets made the first seven points of the second half thanks to a three-pointer by Eric Gordon and a four-point play by Trevor Ariza to take a 72-67 lead.
Cleveland got going soon after that and a layup by Iman Shumpert got the Cavaliers within 1 point soon after that. But Harden made two 3-pointers to power an 8-2 run that extended Houston’s lead to 81-74 lead with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.
The Cavaliers scored five quick points, capped by a 3-pointer by Green, to tie it at 87-87 about three minutes later. A 3-point play by Gordon put Houston back on top and the Rockets had extended their lead to 100-93 entering the fourth quarter.