Houston Rockets Top Cleveland Cavaliers 109-108 Behind Fred VanVleet’s 26 Points

The Houston Rockets looked to bounce back from their loss against the Detroit Pistons on Monday as they faced the Cleveland Cavaliers back at the Toyota Center Wednesday night.

Cleveland entered the night on a two-game win streak and the best record in the NBA at 36-6.

Houston, however, was not phased as it came out of the gates aggressive, attacking the rim at will. The Cavaliers were hitting shots early, but the Rockets countered with quick buckets on the break.

Forward Amen Thompson got off to a quick start, scoring six points in the first seven minutes of the game. Cam Whitmore joined Thompson, scoring 10 points in the opening quarter to help give Houston a 39-32 lead at the end of the first.

Cleveland kept it close in the second, slowing down the Rockets’ offense but still continued to struggle to score on its own end. Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell ended the first half with 13 points, but his team still trailed 61-53 at the end of the second quarter.

Houston’s offense came back alive in the third as veteran guard Fred VanVleet found his stroke from deep, knocking down two threes to help extend the lead. Star guard Jalen Green also caught fire, scoring 8 points in the third to help give the Rockets a double-digit lead at the end of the quarter.

Cleveland, however, wasn’t out of it just yet as it went on a run with under five minutes left in the game, erasing Houston’s lead.

It found its shooting stroke late and the Rockets had no answer. the Cavaliers took a six-point lead with four minutes remaining, but VanVleet wasn’t going to let them get away with it.

He knocked down two late threes with under three minutes remaining to help tie the game. The game then went back and forth the rest of the way, but it was a wild sequence of events in the waning seconds that determined who came out with the win.

Thompson forced Mitchell into a tough step-back three-point jumper with under 10 seconds remaining, leading to an Alperen Şengün rebound. Cleveland center Jarrett Allen committed a foul with just four seconds left on the clock which led to Şengün heading to the free throw line.

Şengün proceeded to hit both free throws. Forward Tari Eason then made a fatal mistake, committing a flagrant foul on Garland on a three-point attempt.

Garland, a 90% free throw shooter, went just 1-of-3 from the line, which forced a tough game-winning attempt from Mitchell. The shot clanked off the rim, leading to a 109-108 win for Houston.

VanVleet led the way for the Rockets with 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting.

Houston will look to ride this momentum into Saturday where it will face Cleveland once again, but this time on the road.

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