Rockets get the win vs the Cavs last night

KILT-AM / SportsRadio 610

The Rockets snag a win over the Cavs and ITL dives into what it means.

Transcript

00:00for houston rockets one of the one of the better teams in all the nba had a really fun matchup

00:05yesterday in the in cleveland in the state of ohio versus a cleveland cavaliers team that is

00:09pretty damn good real good really really good without sam merrill one of the big three-point

00:14shooters so i didn't get a chance to see something that i wanted to see but i got a whole bunch of

00:18something else here and lopez in watching this game there's a lot of things that we can get into

00:22and maybe we find a way to get around to those but i was interested because there was one note i sent

00:27you as i was just texting uh blowing up our text and it was that alpern shangoon versus the defensive

00:32player of the year in evan mobley he had no issues one-on-one now if they came and doubled then okay

00:38some things needed to happen ball needed to come out ball needed to swing around but one-on-one

00:42he had no issues and i think that was really encouraging to see it was awesome it feels like

00:47it is um indicative of the development that he has had from just being a really good player in this

00:53league to maybe finding a way into some level of elite uh status in this league but you think this

00:58is a bigger game for someone else yeah i do but just real quick on on shangoon this is going to be

01:04nba at large this season uh that discussion regarding shangoon isn't it i mean he was that good

01:10he he was that good making the defensive player of the year look like that inside outside backing him

01:17down spin moves you know step throughs i mean just the whole bag player of the year one-on-one

01:24with him and they had and not it wasn't even just like oh well the defensive player of the year in

01:27in a um mismatch of positions no they play the same position yeah had one up and they had to start

01:33sending help yeah in order to pick him up that is no small feat no this is going to be called you

01:37know by the national nba writers and such breakout game right like you may you ask the question uh you

01:43know shangoon might be you know sort of uh traipsing into the territory of elite and i i already put it

01:48on wax i think he's an all nba player and i think he's on uh uh and of the mvp long list maybe even

01:54sure list and i did not at the time i think this game is gonna pretty much solidify that he is elite

02:00he he is he's one national tv on national television against that team against that player i think it's

02:07undeniable like this was you're gonna you're gonna see the word breakout game you know uh across uh

02:14nba stories and platforms and all that that said i'm watching this game especially after

02:19after the cavaliers made their run because early on the rockets were going to run them out the gym

02:25i mean i think they were it was 17 and a half 17.8 and donovan mitchell had two points yeah yeah and

02:31and they wasn't hitting no three and they were like three for 20 to start the game four for 20 something

02:36like that uh and it wasn't just the threes that did a great job of contesting shots the cleveland

02:40was not getting second opportunities that was when they were they were taking and just corralling all

02:45those in fact to the point where one point in the second quarter i'm watching steven adams down in the

02:49paint and three count them three calves steven adams is coming down with the rebound like that's how

02:54dominant the game looked but then once it got close didn't get within like one point at some point uh it

02:58was thereabouts and i think that's when i like this was a tremendous game for kevin durant

03:05like tremendous interesting that i i thought he was a conductor man like the the reason you got

03:13kevin durant is because if you need a bucket you give it to him and you get your bucket right

03:16but he was just the feel and the and the i guess the way i would put it the reading of the situations

03:24was was like perfect kevin durant when when to get up there high with whether it was shangoon and maybe

03:29do a two-man or you know uh a pick and roll or something when to skip the ball and then when it got

03:35tight he was he got the ball in his hands and then sort of read the way the game was the moment was

03:42there and i think there was one pass to to a man that ended up with an easy bucket there was another

03:46one i'm trying to remember who it was but uh like kevin durant this is why you got him not just because

03:52of the points because of his knowledge and feel for the game and the moment in that game was just

03:59outstanding i i i am not like i said i think he's elite now shangoon i'm not taking anything away

04:04but i really could feel what what durant was doing and sometimes he would set up a mismatch he would

04:11he would he would stretch the court so shangoon could have more room to work he was way out behind

04:15beyond the three-point line and sometimes he took the ball himself and you know did his thing thing

04:21and when it mattered down this is the way i'll put it he calmed down the offense he just calmed it down

04:26it was it was a great game for shangoon i think it was a great game for for what durant did no and

04:32what's funny is you look at kevin durant and the numbers aren't incredible one for six 21 points

04:37something like that 20 yeah a flat 20 points uh three assists as well for shoot and some of that was

04:44a really nasty third quarter i know someone on the text lines that y'all were too kind to shangoon he

04:49had a lot of turnovers i think that that was that that third quarter was really problematic and i

04:53wanted to get to that here as well but i i do think that what you're pointing out is a good

04:58thing because if you just look at the box score you will say that kevin durant had a so-so game in

05:01some regards you're right but that thing you're talking about is the big question that people

05:06have been asking with this rockets team when you find out that fred van vliet that's what made me

05:10think about is out for the year one thing that you've talked about is all right who is going to

05:13kind of help uh usher in be the point guard but i think when you ask for the point guard there's

05:17there's certain things within that and yes a man is still handling a decent amount of the

05:21basketball but when it comes to who's going to settle these guys down when it gets wild yeah

05:26kevin durant did a little bit of that he he also had his turnovers in that third quarter they had

05:30they all had some bad turnover that's why they scored 17 points in the third quarter and they're

05:33going to need to work through that and i think some of that is also giving the cleveland cavaliers

05:36credit for being a good defensive team that you still managed to make look silly in some of those

05:41instances especially closing time because kevin durant did a great job making some of these decisions

05:46can we also before we go here i do want to give a salute to someone who had to play some minutes here

05:51and continually shows like bench mob type of stay ready crew type of play which is aaron holiday

05:57it was crazy it was great was he 80 shooting 71 from the field 60 percent from three uh and he helped

06:05knock down some of the clutch shots in that fourth quarter in fact to the point where i didn't like

06:10when he was out there with reed late because then their backcourt was too small and the size of

06:15the calves showed up but when it was uh or aaron with kind of the bigger lineup around him

06:21aaron holt up like shows up being knowing where to be raising up uh on that three-point line when

06:27it's necessary when he gets that ball he is one of the he is one of the better shooters on your team

06:31without question and he shoots it with confidence and you know what he did was calm the offense down

06:35he did as well so i think i think that's what that's what really stood out to me because i at first

06:39i thought i this isn't even gonna be it's gonna be fun but it's not even gonna be interesting you

06:43know and then when you get into those moments you could just see durant you just see like the wheels

06:48turning you know every time he had the ball in his hands or they were in an offensive possession

06:51real quick before we go what was your feeling because i actually after this game after i stopped

06:56bombarding you guys with text i actually went back and ran the third quarter back again because i was

07:00like what happened here why did this team allow admittedly pretty good cleveland calves back into this

07:06game i wrote down something finish your point yeah because no i'm asking the question because i as

07:10when i was watching that game i was like that third quarter was deeply frustrating i see people on the

07:13text line saying you go to half uh with with the score with a good score but then you look at this

07:18third quarter and it's just they absolutely are able to come back from or you know they're down 17

07:23at half and they they bring that thing all the way back to a manageable score i want to say it was

07:27like four or five starting the fourth quarter and that's that's something that you would hope that

07:32you could keep that team at bay when you have a damn near 20 point lead yeah what did you see in

07:36the third quarter what were you feeling i wrote i wrote down something really profound in some notes that i

07:39had on my phone and where did they go it was one word turnovers i mean it was just you know that

07:45that's going to be something uh when when you are this type of offense i think it was i mean what

07:50were the turnovers just in the third quarter i don't know but it was a lot just in the third

07:54quarter there were four for the rockets to uh two for cleveland yeah but four doesn't sound like a lot

07:59but it was also ending live ball turn turnovers you got a second chance points which is what one of

08:05their calling cards is but you were giving up some longer rebounds as well uh no i think it was it

08:10was very straightforward and and donovan mitchell started you know i think he had 19 of his 21

08:14points you know there in second half yeah and um i mean the rockets also were missing bunnies

08:19uh in that third quarter in particular they really did i mean they missed a few right at the right at

08:23the rim they took a lot of mid-range i think they well i would say settle but this is a team that

08:27has a pretty strong mid-range diet um but yeah i think that also the calves just started heating up to

08:33some degree with their energy i think the energy changed because i talked about winning the boards

08:38the rockets in that first half there was no there was no denying who had more energy defensively i

08:43actually made the note because defensively i was trying to look at what is the zone and what are

08:46those and the energy and um awareness on defense was so good i think the calves matched that in the

08:51third quarter but i think the big takeaway for me against a good team i know that they're gonna have

08:55to work some of these kinks out and there were kinks that we knew they were gonna have to work out

08:58from the start of the season seeing them close the way that they did is the is that's that was the big

09:03thing that you were hoping to change this year and seeing them do it on another another instance

09:07when this came up was beautiful for me and i i think i agree with you kevin durant did a good

09:11job to settle that aaron holiday did a fantastic job and alper and shangun with 28 points uh continue

09:16to be a metronome uh at least when it came to he gets on that block or he has that ball in his hands

09:20and he makes the right decision for the most part

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