No Şengün, No Problem: Rockets Dominate Cavaliers at Home

Key Highlights

• Letting Durant operate without consistent doubles.
• And it cost them early and often. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith Alperen Şengün sidelined due to a calf issue, the Rockets could’ve stalled offensively.
• Without his other half on the floor, Kevin Durant walked into the Toyota Center ready to pick up any scoring slack and came out swinging.
• Durant went 5-for-7 in the first, notching 14 points within a 19-4 Houston run.
• The lead stretched to 12 before the first frame closed at 32-24 Rockets. Steven Adams started in Şengün’s stead and his physicality controlled the paint all night, and he flirted with a double-double, finishing with nine points and eight rebounds, and posted a game-high +26. The Cavaliers came in averaging nearly 44-percent from deep, but Houston’s perimeter defense erased that advantage quickly.