Houston falters again, now without Garuba’s participation

The cavaliers They came out winners of this Thursday’s duel with the Rockets inside the Toyota Center and with authority. The Cleveland team had gone through a little trance, with a streak of three falls in four games, but was relieved to find themselves facing a less important rival than the previous ones. This Houston is far from what we saw during James Harden’s time there. This Houston is a jumble of inexperienced players with a lot to work on. Few halos of light come from there.

Garuba He was the protagonist without being on the track. Precisely for this reason. In the Spanish duel against Ricky Rubio (5 points and 7 assists in 17 minutes) he did not act. And it is not a flower of a day, but of two. In the previous game, with the Wizards, Stephen Silas opted for Bruno Fernando to take over inside from the bench and condemned the athlete from Azuqueca de Henares. Seeing that it went well, despite the fact that they also lost against the capitalists, the strategy was repeated as the back to back what was it. Even Boban Marjanovic, usually residual, had to play. Tari Eason, another big man, was the best of the locals with 18 points and 11 rebounds while Garland (26) and Mobley (21) stood out for the Cavs. It remains to be seen if the Texans coach backs down and gives Usman a chance again, who has proved valid to defend various positions and provide energy as a substitute despite having other shortcomings, or if the gap won this season looks more and more like the redoubt with which he had to settle in the previous one.

The Rockets they’ve only won one game, against Minnesota, so far this year. Only eleven wins when we approach the barrier of fifty games played in the season. In this one, broken at halftime and with no continuity solution for them, they scored five triples when this facet became their hallmark in those good years mentioned above. An adjustment for the worse, much worse, for a franchise in which changes are more necessary the more days pass.

Starting the clash they already saw part of the problems of Silas’s. Sengun, with too much responsibility on both ends of the court, had to deal with the lack of communication from his teammates to make assists and change teams, which was causing Cavaliers players to finish more easily near the basket. At the end of the first quarter, with Ricky Rubio directing the operations well, the visitors tore the score between Mobley and Wade. That 6-16 run gave way from one period to another and in the second the bleeding continued. Garland, more effective in that sleeve, led another pull to leave, on the verge of rest, the difference to one of thirty. Little more to contribute except individual duels by Houston, another of the headaches of a team with little team.