CLEVELAND, OH — The Cavaliers were competitive, but the duo of James Harden was too good down the stretch in Wednesday night’s 116-110 loss to the Rockets.
Harden was dominant, finishing with 55 points and eight assists. Russell Westbrook was the perfect Robin to Harden’s Batman — scoring 23 points.
Houston led by as many as 14 points, but Cleveland was resilient.
The Cavaliers’ began the fourth quarter on a 17-0 run to take a 99-88 lead with 8:10 left. Rookie Kevin Porter Jr. had 10 points during the run, including two 3-pointers. Porter finished with a career-high 24 points, making six threes.
Harden answered with five straight points to right the ship for Houston. He finished with 20 fourth quarter points and did just enough to help the Rockets’ survive the Cavs’ run.
Porter made a 3-pointer to give Cleveland a 108-107 lead, but Houston went on a 9-2 run to end the game and pick up the win.
The Cavaliers have lost eight straight and 14 of their last 15 games.
Bounce Back for Love
Kevin Love bounced back after a six-game slump. He came in averaging just nine points and 6.2 rebounds in his last six games.
Love finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He was 8-of-14 from the field, but didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
Playmaking Rookie
Porter had the best game of his young career for the Cavs. He scored 16 points in the fourth, including four three 3-pointers in the final period to lead the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers selected Porter with the No. 30 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He made clutch bucket after clutch bucket to help keep pace with Harden and the Rockets.
KEVINPORTERJUNIOR@cavs lead the Rockets 94-88! #BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/BnP3Oz1Jfc
— FOX Sports Cleveland (@FOXSportsCLE) December 12, 2019Up Next
The Cavs hit the road for a Thursday night matchup with San Antonio. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m.
