Houston racks fifth straight NBA win after taking down Cleveland

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Houston Rockets equalized its longest winning streak of the ongoing NBA regular season after thrashing the Cleveland Cavaliers, 117-103, in an inter-conference showdown on March 17, 2024.

Fresh off a one-sided win over the Washington Wizards, the Rockets showed no signs of slowing down and scored a wire-to-wire victory to protect their home court.

Houston immediately got the upper hand as early as the opening frame after clinching a slim five-point lead before breaking away at the end of the second quarter, ballooning its advantage to 16 points, 70-54.

Despite early adjustments deployed by the Cavaliers when they played their superstar Donovan Mitchell off the ball often to take off some heavy ball-handling duties, Cleveland just got no answers to Houston’s fast-paced offensive sets and were always behind in defending their schemes.

Jalen Green was once again on-point with his scoring performance and dropped a game-high 26-point outing derived from four made shots from downtown.

The athletic shooting guard of the Rockets was unstoppable from the get-go, steering Houston with his insane acrobatic layup plays while also helping their frontcourt in the rebounding department.

Green also tallied 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal, an evident stat-line to his all-around efficient performance to help the Rockets improve to 32 wins and 35 losses.

Fred Vanvleet, the team’s veteran presence, orchestrated the Houston attack to perfection after dishing out 16 assists including 13 points and five rebounds.

Despite the absence of superstar center Alperen Sengun who was out due to a right ankle sprain, the Rockets were still able to get a valuable performance from their versatile big man Jabari Smith who delivered 20 big points built from an 8/13 shooting from the field.

Houston will aim to extend its winning streak to six straight games on March 20, 2024, as they set up a rematch against the Washington Wizards on the road.