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The Houston Rockets continued to prove that they’re a real threat this season when they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, 109-108. Now 29-14, the Rockets have the fourth-best record in the league and are the only team with wins over the Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder — the best team in each conference with identical 36-7 records.
But as impressive as the Rockets have been lately, they needed a lot of help from the Cavaliers down the stretch to get the win on Wednesday. The Cavs had multiple chances to win the game in the closing seconds, but couldn’t get it done in a bizarre ending.
The fourth-quarter craziness actually started early in the frame when the Cavaliers went on a 19-0 run that lasted over seven minutes. From there, it was a back-and-forth finish that saw both teams take the lead in the closing minutes. But we’ll skip ahead to the final five seconds, when the drama reached another level.
With the score tied at 107-107, the Cavaliers had the ball and a chance to hold for the final shot. Instead, Donovan Mitchell went a bit early and missed his deep 3-pointer. In the scramble for the rebound, Jarrett Allen was called for holding Alperen Sengun. The Cavaliers challenged the call, but it was upheld, sending the Rockets big man to the line.
Sengun hit both free throws to put the Rockets in front, 109-107, but the Cavaliers still had 4.5 seconds to work with. On the ensuing inbound, the Rockets quickly took their foul to give, leaving the Cavs with 4.1 seconds. At that point, the Cavs went for a quick-hitter to Darius Garland, who put up a rushed 3-pointer that never really had a chance. However, he was fouled by Tari Eason in the process. And after a review, the call was upgraded to a Flagrant 1.
That meant that Garland not only had three free throws, but the Cavaliers would get the ball back. But in a stunning twist, Garland — a 90.1% free-throw shooter entering the game — missed the first two free throws.
Garland made the third to bring the Cavs within one at 109-108, but it wasn’t enough. A prayer at the buzzer from Mitchell fell short, giving the Rockets the win.
Entering Wednesday night’s action, Garland was one of only seven NBA players shooting 90% or better from the free-throw line. In fact, he hadn’t had a game all season where he missed more than two free throws. In this one, he missed five as he finished 3 of 8.
