Allen dominates, Cavs use fourth quarter surge to beat Rockets 112-96
FrOhio was in full effect for Cleveland Wednesday night.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have won back-to-back games for the first time since beating the Nets twice in a row back in January.
On Wednesday night, the Cavs won a back-and-forth game against the Houston Rockets 112-96. Cleveland led by 10 after one quarter, trailed by two at halftime and led by eight heading into the fourth. But five fourth quarter threes helped the Cavs put the game away. That included back-to-back threes by Dean Wade and Dylan Windler that increased the Cavs lead from six to 12, and they never looked back.
Cleveland’s top performer was undoubtedly Jarrett Allen, who had possibly his best performance in a Cavalier uniform. He dominated on both ends all night, finishing with 26 points and 18 rebounds on 10-11 shooting. He added 4 blocks and did not commit a single foul despite consistently contesting shots.
The Cavs shot 16-36 from three, and Wade, Windler and Isaac Okoro shot a combine 8-8, with each one hitting a three in the fourth quarter. Windler is now 9-9 from deep in his last two games, and the Cavs have seemingly gotten over their three-point shooting woes from earlier in the season.
Cleveland defended excellently as well, holding its opponent to under 100 points for the first time since its win over the Timberwolves back on February 1st. The Cavs held the Rockets to just 40% from the floor and 30.3% from three.
Collin Sexton continued his strong season with 23 points and Darius Garland notched his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 assists. He shot just 3-10 from three, but he hit those threes consecutively in the third quarter, which was a huge turning point for Cleveland.
Up next: The Cavs are back in action on Saturday on the road against the 21-11 Philadelphia 76ers. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.