No defense, no victory for Cavaliers who fell to the Rockets in Houston.
View full sizeAfter scoring 22 points in the first quarter, Houston's Kevin Martin (12) was targeted by the Cavaliers' defense -- if not successfully -- on Saturday night. Daniel Gibson's wraparound defense led to a pair of Martin free throws in the Rockets' 110-95 victory.HOUSTON, Texas -- It sounds as if everyone agrees what the Cavaliers should do against opponents at the 3-point line. They just don't do it.
In a loss eerily similar to last Saturday's loss at Minnesota, the Cavs were undone by the hot-shooting Houston Rockets, 110-95, on Saturday night in Toyota Center.
"It seemed like deja vu all over again when we played Minnesota and they hit shot after shot," said Antawn Jamison as the Cavs fell to 7-16 with their seventh straight loss and their eighth straight on the road.
Whereas the Timberwolves shot 69.2 percent from 3-point range for the game, the Rockets did it just for a half -- 64.5 percent over the first 24 minutes -- but that was more than enough, thanks to former Zanesville High School star Kevin Martin.
Martin had 32 of his season-high 40 points in the first half to propel the Rockets (9-14).
"You've got to give him credit," Cavs coach Byron Scott said of Martin. "He really got it going and made shots. A guy like that, as good as he is offensively, and he can get to the free-throw line as well can make for a long night."
Martin made three of six 3-pointers and 13 of 14 free throws. As a team, the Rockets made 12 of 26 3-pointers, 46.2 percent. Shane Battier had four and Chase Budinger added three.
"Tonight that was the biggest difference in the game," Scott said of the long ball.
So how does he want to try and prevent that?
"You've just got to run them off [the 3-point line]," he said. "A few times we'd run up to them and stand there and watch, and they'd raise and shoot right in our face. We've got to continue to do a much better job of getting guys off that 3-point line and forcing them to put the ball on the floor. I know sometimes guys feel a little uncomfortable and vulnerable running at people like that, but we've got to do it."
Jamison's answer was virtually the same as Scott's, so it's not as if there's a communication problem. There's just an execution problem -- on both ends of the court.
Much like Wednesday's loss to Chicago, the Cavs had a chance but fell apart.
After Houston increased its lead to 75-62 early in the third quarter, the Cavs finally decided to play some defense. Stopping the Rockets on one end allowed them to score nine straight on the other -- a 3-pointer by Jamison, two free throws by Anthony Parker and a jumper and driving layup by Mo Williams. All of sudden the Cavs were within 75-71 with about six minutes left.
Of course, they reverted to form just as quickly. Battier had seven points as the Rockets closed out on a 17-4 run for a 92-75 lead.
"Once we got to striking distance, we just didn't play smart, whether it was a miscue defensively, a bad shot offensively that led to them making a big shot down the stretch," Jamison said. "Those type of plays just break your back. We weren't able to get the stops we needed or convert on the offensive end in order to swing the game our way.
"Offensively, you're going to have those lulls. The one thing you've got to hang your hat on is defensively not having those lulls. We were scrambling throughout the whole game and just couldn't get the necessary stops that we needed or really take advantage of the things we were doing offensively."