Rockets Fall To Cavaliers In Summer League Championship Game
The Houston Rockets fell 99-78 to the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night during the 2023 Las Vegas Summer League championship game inside the Thomas & Mack Center.
By falling to the Cavaliers, the Rockets recorded their first and lone defeat of the summer tournament. The game also resulted in Houston's second championship loss in Las Vegas. Their first came in a 77-68 defeat to the Sacramento Kings in 2014.
Nate Hinton led the Rockets in scoring for the second consecutive night. He finished with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 10 rebounds and a pair of steals.
The Rockets came out flat in the first quarter. Houston began the game shooting 1-of-7 from behind the arc, which led to an early 23-9 deficit. The Cavaliers took advantage of the Rockets' struggles behind the production of Isaiah Mobley.
He scored nine of his 18 first-half points within seven minutes. The Cavaliers held a 28-14 lead entering the second quarter, where the Rockets began to cut into Cleveland's 14-point lead.
Houston outscored the Cavaliers 30-23 in the second period. The Rockets connected on six out of their nine 3-point field goal attempts and used a 14-2 run to come within four points (44-40) with 2 minutes and 15 seconds left in the quarter.
The Rockets entered the halftime break trailing 51-44 but could not sustain the momentum that led to a near comeback attempt. Houston gave up 28 third-quarter points to the Cavaliers and was unable to recover in the fourth quarter.
Summer League MVP Cam Whitmore struggled during the championship title game. The rookie from Villanova finished with 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting. Trevor Hudgins added 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting, 3-of-8 from deep.
Mobley led the Cavaliers with 28 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals but received significant help from Sam Merrill and Emoni Bates, who scored 27 and 19 respectively.
Mobley took home Summer League Finals MVP honors after leading the Cavaliers to their first championship title in the Las Vegas tournament.
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