Joe Murphy/Getty Images
Chris Paul scored 22 points, dished 11 assists and grabbed eight rebounds in 27 minutes as the Houston Rockets never trailed in a 120-88 road victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday.
All five Houston starters finished in double figures, with James Harden scoring 16. The MVP candidate had an off shooting night (5-of-16 overall and 1-of-11 from three-point range), but he accounted for nine assists, six boards and two steals. Gerald Green scored 17 off the bench.
Isaiah Thomas and JR Smith led the Cavs with 12 points apiece, while LeBron James posted 11 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
The Rockets dominated from start to finish, but their first-half performance was particularly exceptional as they led 65-39 heading into the break. All but two of their points came from the three-point line, free-throw line or the paint, and the Rockets shot 54.2 percent from the field and made 10 of 22 threes.
Houston's ability (led by Paul and his plus-47 night) to manufacture good (and sometimes wide-open) looks in the paint and behind the three-point line led to its offensive success.
Part of that could be attributed to crisp ball movement and marksman-like shooting. One such example including this left-handed pass from Paul to Ryan Anderson for a three-pointer to put Houston up 41-22 in the second quarter:
Paul's scoring was also on point, as he nailed this 34-foot jumper to give the Rockets a 79-49 third-quarter advantage:
Like his teammates, Paul also scored in the paint, as he nailed this floater over Tristan Thompson following a remarkable array of moves:
Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com had this to say about Paul's night:
As impressive as Houston's offense was, the Cleveland defense left a lot to be desired in the midst of allowing 118 or more points for the seventh time since January 6. The Rockets drove through the lane without being contested numerous times, and many of their three-point attempts were wide open.
As Rachel Nichols of ESPN noted, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue had this to say at halftime to reporter Lisa Salters about his team's efforts:
Chris Fedor of Advance Ohio explained part of the defensive problem:
After a 19-2 stretch to boost their record to 24-9, the Cavs have lost 12 of their last 18. They sit in third place in the Eastern Conference at 30-21, but the difference between third and seventh is just two games.
The Rockets improved to 38-13 and have a firm grip on second place in the Western Conference. They are also just two games (and only one in the loss column) behind the Golden State Warriors for first.
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