Rebuilding the Dream: The Next Era of Houston Rockets Basketball – Episode 19
After the loss against Detroit, the Rockets welcomed the Eastern Conference frontrunners, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to Toyota Centre.
The Cavaliers were among the new wave of young teams that were currently taking the league by storm. Like the Rockets, the Cavs roster is built around a core of recent draft picks, bolstered by the addition of smart, veteran signings and were being guided to success by a new Head Coach who was widely respected for his ability to mould talented youth into part of a formidable competitive unit. In 2021, the Houston Rockets passed on Evan Mobley to take Jalen Green with the 2nd pick in the Draft. He was out for this game but would likely return when the teams met again in Cleveland later this week.
The Cavaliers joined the league 55 years ago in 1970 as the Rockets played their final season in San Diego. A local Cleveland sports fan and former postman, Nick Mileti, became the teams first owner and bought in the basketball coach from his former College, Bowling Green, to guide the Cavaliers through their first seasons. After a rough start to his career in Cleveland, Bill Fitch eventually garnered respect around the league for turning the Cavaliers into a formidable team and would move on to coach a rookie Larry Bird in Boston, guiding him to his first Championship in 1981. He moved to Houston in 1984 where he would coach another great of the game in his rookie season. He helped the Rockets reach the NBA Finals in 1986 but lost to his former team in 6 games.
In 1988 the Cavaliers met Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the playoffs for the first time. The matchup wouldn’t be a favourable one for them. By 1994 the Cavaliers had been sent home by the Bulls in 5 of the last 7 postseasons. They weren’t a serious organisation for the next decade until the greatest basketball player of all time, who happened to hail from Akron Ohio, joined his hometown team and gave the city of Cleveland hope that they would be led to the promised land. Despite a historic start to what would become an enduring career, LeBron James’ first stint with the Cavaliers is remembered for his collapses during clutch moments in the playoffs. He would leave the team the biggest media spectacle in the history of sports in 2010 but would return in 2014 and eventually gave the city their first Championship in professional sports by overcoming a 3 to 1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors in 2016. Following his 2nd exit from the team, the Cavaliers subsequent rebuild has been a success and in 2025 they are one of the league’s most exciting young teams.
After controlling the game throughout, the Rockets started the 4th quarter with quick buckets from Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore but suffered a 7 minute scoring drought that let the Cavaliers take control of the game. They found themselves down by 6 with just 3 minutes to play when Fred VanVleet knocked down back to back 3’s to tie the game back up. After Alperen Sengun put the Rockets up by 2 from the line, Tari Eason committed an obvious flagrant foul on Darius Garland. The Rockets commentator, Craig Ackerman, is the self-proclaimed best in the game at free throw defense and believes he has jinxed a number of players into key misses in clutch situations this season. As Darius Garland proceeded to miss his first two shots from the line, it was hard to argue with Ackerman’s outlandish claims to being 1st Team All Free Throw Defense. Donavon Mitchell would have one more opportunity to improve his team’s league best record but missed the potential game winner. The Rockets had stolen one in Toyota Centre and looked toward the rematch in Cleveland in 3 days time. The game would be the first of a tough stretch where the team would be on the road for 8 of the next 9 contests.
