Houston Rockets @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM ET
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | Game ID: 22400640
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 27 27 30 47 131HOU 33 35 33 34 135
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Thompson has triple-double as Rockets beat East-leading Cavaliers for second time in week, 135-131
CLEVELAND -- — Amen Thompson had his second career triple-double, Alperin Sengun and Jalen Green scored 26 points apiece and the Houston Rockets beat the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers 135-131 on Saturday night.
Thompson finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and Fred VanVleet had 20 points and six assists for Houston. The Rockets beat Cleveland for the second time in four days, winning 109-108 at home Wednesday.
Darius Garland scored 27 of his 39 points in the second half for the Cavaliers. They have lost a season-high three in a row and dropped a half-game behind Oklahoma City for the NBA lead. Donovan Mitchell had 25 of his 33 points in the second half.
Cleveland also lost consecutive home games for the first time, but is a league-best 21-3 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Takeaways Rockets: Centers Sengun and Steven Adams dominated counterparts Jarrett Allen and Tristan Thompson , combining for 40 points and 12 rebounds.
Cavaliers: Power forward Evan Mobley returned after missing four games with a right calf strain, but was ineffective throughout. He had seven points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in 29 minutes.
Key moment After Garland made two free throws to even the score with 1:51 remaining, Houston answered with a 10-2 run to seize a 134-126 lead, fueled by five points from Thompson. Mitchell missed a wide-open, potential tying 3-pointer with 27 seconds left.
Key stat Mitchell made his first three shots and had Cleveland’s first eight points, then missed 10 straight field goal attempts. The All-Star starter didn’t score again until the third quarter, winding up 11 of 27 from the field and 4 of 11 on 3-pointers.
Up next Both teams are back in action Monday night. The Rockets are at Boston, and the Cavaliers host Detroit.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECP C. Porter Jr.
DG D. Garland
DM D. Mitchell
EM E. Mobley
GN G. Niang
JA J. Allen
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
TJ T. Jerome
TT T. Thompson
HOUAS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
CW C. Whitmore
DB D. Brooks
FV F. VanVleet
JG J. Green
JT J. Tate
JG Ja. Green
SA S. Adams
TE T. Eason
CLE/HOU the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur