Cavs coach Byron Scott started his coaching career under Houston's Rick Adelman.
The Cavaliers' J.J. Hickson is beaten to this rebound by Houston's Jordan Hill in the first half of their exhibition game Sunday night.CAVALIERS AT DALLAS MAVERICKS
Tipoff: Monday, 7:30 p.m. at American Airlines Arena.
TV/radio: No TV; WTAM AM/1100.
Notable: Cavs will be playing the second night of a back-to-back. Mo Williams (groin), Anderson Varejao (personal) and Loren Woods (left Achilles tendinitis) are not on the trip. Cavs’ next play against Spurs Thursday at Pittsburgh. Spurs knocked off the Heat on Saturday.
— Mary Schmitt Boyer
HOUSTON, Texas -- Byron Scott wasn't entirely sure what to expect when he interviewed for his first NBA assistant coaching job with Rick Adelman back in Sacramento in 1998.
As a player with the Los Angeles Lakers, Scott had had some success against Adelman's teams in Portland, but the two didn't really have a personal relationship.
"I remember one playoff series against Portland in 1991 where I shot about 60 percent from the field," Scott recalled. "I thought he was going to bring me up there and cuss me out about the way I played against him at times."
Instead, Adelman, now the coach of the Houston Rockets, offered Scott a job and gave him the weekend to think about it.
"I always thought he was a guy who understood the game well, played on a very good team, understood what it was like to win," Adelman said. "I always was impressed with him."
Scott called Adelman back the next day.
"I don't need the weekend," he said. "I'm ready to jump in."
A career, and a friendship, were born.
"I admired him from afar," Scott said. "I thought he was always a pretty good coach. Now I have much more of an understanding of what type of coach he is. Very, very underrated.
"Pat Riley, Larry Brown and Rick Adelman are three of the best coaches in the league. The first two I named get a lot of recognition for what they've done, and deservedly so. Rick is the guy under the radar who I got a chance to be up close to for a year and a half and I learned a lot from him."
Big void: The Cavs have been working on their post defense the past couple of days, and Scott was looking forward to have his young big men face All-Star Yao Ming. But the Rockets are resting him to ease Yao's return from foot surgery last season.
"I was kind of hoping he would get a chance to play so we'd get a chance to work on those things," Scott said. "If Yao's not playing, we'll still get a chance to work on those things, but not as much as I would like."
Brad Miller is also out with a sprained left ankle.
Hitting the road: After the game, the Rockets left for the China Games. Adelman knows what to expect, having taken the Kings there before. It's a tough haul.
"You're not on your own timetable," he said. "We lose Monday somewhere along the line, get there Tuesday, come back Saturday. We play two games in two different places. ... We're going to have to get turned around and get back on our own time before we have a back-to-back [to end the preseason.] Then we start [the regular season] in L.A."
Sick bay: Listeners may have heard that Hall of Fame radio broadcaster Joe Tait was a bit under the weather last night. Not only was he not feeling well, but he was diagnosed with pleurisy.