At exactly 9:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 3, 2022, the NBA regular season began, and the Houston Rockets defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-104. The scores in the fourth quarter were: 32-31, 32-22, 26-30, 25-21. The Cavaliers weren't without a chance to reverse the Rockets, but the Cavaliers didn't hold back the pressure in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and eventually fitted the game.
Judging from their previous state, the Rockets have suffered four consecutive defeats, and the last round of games also set a shameful record of 11 consecutive defeats at home, and this record is also the NBA's longest home winless record this season. The situation of the Cavaliers is not optimistic, and this season has been affected by injuries, which have a great impact on the strength of the team. In the previous meeting between the two teams, the Rockets lost 2-3.
Let's take a look at the startings of both teams, the Cavaliers starters: Goodwin, Osman, O'Corro, Mobley, Allen; Rockets starters: Porter, Green, Gordon, Tate, Wood.
In the first quarter of the game, Cavaliers center Allen and Rockets forward Wood jumped the ball, the Cavaliers got the ball, and Mobley broke through the hook to shoot, which already indicated that the Cavaliers would have a lot of trouble in this game. The result was a one-point lead over the Cavaliers at 32-31 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Rockets' Wood played well, and the success rate of shooting inside and outside was significantly improved. As a result, in the second quarter, the Rockets led the Cavaliers by 11 points at 32-22, 64-53 on aggregate.
In the third quarter, the Cavaliers finally had someone to step up, they were 33-year-old veteran Kevin, who played eye-catching in rebounding, and the Cavaliers' 21-year-old Evan Mobley also began to make a big splash. In the third quarter, the Cavaliers led 30-26 for the first time, but on the aggregate, they still trailed by 7 points at 90-83.
In Quarter 4, we saw the Cavaliers' hopes of reversing the Rockets, and as Kevin Love hit a 7-pointer from inside and outside, the Cavaliers briefly trailed the deficit to just four points. However, the last minute was turned around by the Rockets' Wood force. In the fourth quarter, they defeated the Cavaliers 25-21, 115-104 on aggregate.
Judging from this game, the Cavaliers really didn't play very well, except for the youngster Mobley and Love, the rest of the players did perform a little badly.
Scoring:
Rockets: Gordon 11 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, Tate 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals, Jaylen Green 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Porter Jr. 16 points, 7 assists, Sagu 9 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, Matthews 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, Martin Jr. 10 points, 3 rebounds, Christopher 5 points and 2 rebounds.
Cavaliers: Ocorro 11 points, 2 rebounds, Mobley 29 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists, Allen 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, Goodwin 7 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, Osman 13 points, Love 21 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists, Stevens 7 points and 2 rebounds, Rondo 2 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, Dean Wade 3 points.
This game also set 3 new records. First, the Rockets broke the record of three consecutive home defeats to the Cavaliers; second, the Rockets also ended their four-game losing streak since the New Year; third, the Cavaliers' 21-year-old Mobly played a remarkable role in this game, setting a record for the highest single-season scoring score in a single season with a 29-point report card. Despite this, it was hard to hide his loss, and he shook his head vigorously after the game.