Cavaliers embarrassed by Rockets 117-103

This one was over before it began.

The Cleveland Cavaliers might have celebrated Tristan Thompson’s birthday too hard the night before this one. It’s that or something else that took away all of their juice.

They fell flat on their face against the Houston Rockets. Let’s recap what happened:

Coming up short

There isn’t much good to write about. The Cavs were blitzed from the jump, giving up 70 points in the first half and falling behind by 20+ points early in the third quarter.

Little resistance was offered on the perimeter or the interior. Houston buried 15 three-pointers and outscored Cleveland 56-46 in the paint.

Fred VanVleet absolutely picked the defense apart. He dished 11 assists in the first half and finished with 15 on the night. Jalen Green and Jabari Smith combined for 46 points while Amen Thompson scored 18 points, just four shy of matching a career-high.

For Cleveland, only Caris LeVert deserves a mention. He was one of the only Cavaliers who looked like they cared tonight, scoring a team-high 21 points off of the bench. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen put together just 35 points between the three of them.

Well, that happened...

Thompson didn’t do much in his first game back from a 25-game suspension. But still, it was nice to see Thompson return to the floor. It didn’t take long for him to secure an extra Cavalier possession — even if it didn’t amount to anything.

Big Picture

A loss like this feels inexcusable at this stage of the season. With the playoffs looming, Cleveland should be taking every opportunity to get themselves ready. An embarrassing loss to a team that is below .500 isn’t exactly the way to tell everyone that you are serious about competing in the playoffs.

Nonetheless, a regular season loss can only mean so much. The Cavs remain in close competition for the second seed of the Eastern Conference. Though, at this rate, Milwaukee is going to take it from them.

You’d have to hope that this loss will spark a fire under the Cavaliers. Because once the postseason begins, they are going to need it.