The Houston Rockets (37 - 38) came back to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers (52 - 22) 106 - 100 on Tuesday. This game meant more to Houston than it did Cleveland and the second half shows just that. The Cavaliers carried a 19 - point lead at half, but allowed the Rockets to make a huge comeback in their home building. In fact, the Rockets outscored the Cavaliers 64 to 41 in the second half. Houston's defense was key, as they held Cleveland to 36 percent shooting and outrebounded them 55 to 38. This win put Houston solely in the eight - seed and it may be their biggest win of the season. James Harden really stepped up in the fourth quarter, as he scored 16 of his 27 points in the final 12 minutes. Dwight Howard double - doubled in an 11 - point, 11 - rebound outing, despite shooting 7 - for - 22 from the free - throw line. Michael Beasley was a nice spark off the bench, as he scored 17, while grabbing eight boards. On deck for the Rockets is a matchup with the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. Cleveland played this game without a rested LeBron James and they clearly didn’t have the fire they needed to win this game. Kyrie Irving did step up in his absence though, as he accumulated 31 points and eight assists. Tristan Thompson recorded a double - double off the bench as well, as he totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Cavaliers will look to bounce back on Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets in their next game. Cleveland actually lost to the Nets the last time they played, so look for them to avenge that loss as a huge favorite.
["TeamStat(G,'Cavaliers') has 36 Percentage of 3 points ,has 22 Percentage of field goals ,has 100 Losses ,has 38 Total points ,has 52 Rebounds ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Rockets') has 36 Percentage of 3 points ,has 38 Percentage of field goals ,has 106 Losses ,has 55 Total points ,has 37 Rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G, 'Dwight Howard') has 22 Free throws attempted, has 7 Free throws made, has 11 Points, has 11 Total rebounds"
 "PlayerStat(G, 'James Harden') has 16 Field goals attempted, has 27 Points"
 "PlayerStat(G, 'Michael Beasley') has 17 Points, has 8 Total rebounds"
 "PlayerStat(G, 'Kyrie Irving') has 8 Assists, has 31 Points"
 "PlayerStat(G, 'Tristan Thompson') has 16 Points, has 10 Total rebounds"]