Rockets Unsatisfied Despite Beating NBA-Best Cavaliers

The Houston Rockets are happy to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, but there is more room to grow.

Jan 22, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks (9) handle the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade (32) during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets are celebrating their victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night inside Toyota Center, but they aren't staying that way for long.

The Rockets may have won 109-108 against the Cavs, who hold the league's best record, but they know that they have far more progress to make.

The Rockets came out of the gates with a lead, but coach Ime Udoka felt that the team didn't play at its best.

“We talked about it at halftime,” Udoka said via Sports Radio 610 reporter Adam Spolane. “Showed a good amount of clips of those things, and didn't really help. The same thing hurt us in the second half.”

The effort may have been enough to walk away victorious, but the performance may not have been enough on another night. In fact, it likely wouldn't have.

“33 points off of 22 turnovers is a huge number that we got to clean up,” Udoka said. “And then the offensive rebounds, where they got kick outs or put backs, really kept them in it, so we thought that at halftime and as the game went on, that's why they stuck around.”

While the offense was improving, the defense is where this team makes its money. And the defense hasn't been great as of late. However, Udoka has faith that it will return to where it was.

“I think when it's up and down and you're scoring at ease, sometimes you let go of what made you really good,” Udoka said. “We did discuss the lack of defensive aggressiveness, talking about Detroit games specifically, and we wanted to come out and be better tonight.”

A game like this a year or two ago would have been an easy Rockets loss. However, their talent and togetherness is keeping them in games and sometimes even pushing them out on the winning side.

That being said, it likely won't shake out that way in the playoffs, so the Rockets need to clean that up if they want to be taken seriously as a contender.

The Rockets' rematch with the Cavs in Cleveland is set for Saturday night.

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