Cavaliers Begin Second Half With Loss To Rockets.

The Cavaliers first game after the all star break had a very similar theme.  It was a theme that the Cavs came to know all too well during the first half of the season.  Once again, the Cavs saw a winnable game slip from their grasp as they lost 124-119 to the Houston Rockets Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Cavaliers(10-47), who have been playing without injured Andersen Verajao since December, were also without Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson.  Williams was a late scratch due to a sprained ankle while Gibson was kept out to "deal with personal things", said Cavs head coach Byron Scott.  The Cavs got 26 points from Antawn Jamison and 20 points to go with 12 assists from Ramon Sessions.  The Cavs came out strong, showing no rust from the six day layoff.  The wine and gold led by as many as 11 in the 2nd quarter and took a 65-61 halftime lead, but were unable to make it stand up.

Scoring was not the problem for the Cavaliers as they topped 100 points for the 7th time in 9 games.  Defense, however, was an issue.  The 1-2 punch of Kevin Martin and Chase Buddinger was what did the Cavaliers in.  Martin scored 30 points and the second year Buddinger came off the bench to score a career high 30 points as well.  The Cavs especially had problems with Martin and Buddinger down the stretch as the two combined to score Houston's final 24 points of the game.

The Cavs, who were outscored 30-23 in the 3rd quarter, were able to tie the game at 107 with 5:34 in the game.  From there though Buddinger hit 2 runners and martin added 2 layups and Houston (28-31) pushed the lead out to 115-107 and never looked back.

Chuck Hayes pulled down 17 rebounds for a Rockets team that outrebounded the Cavs 57-37.  Hayes 13 offensive rebounds set a Quicken Loans Arena record.

The Cavs, who were looking to build off of a stunning victory over the 2 time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers heading into the break, got 21 points from Manny Harris. Houston won for the second time in as many nights following a 108-100 victory in Detroit Tuesday night. 

This could be the last time that we saw the two teams in their current forms with Thursday's trade deadline looming.  Shane Battier and Courtney Lee are players whose names have been bandied about in several trade discussions over the past several weeks.  Meanwhile, the Cavaliers aim to unload salary and get younger so they are hoping that the noon deadline tomorrow sees them able to land young players and draft picks.

The Rockets were without Yao Ming, Jared Jeffries, and Terrence Williams.

Houston also beat the Cavaliers December 11th in Houston.  The Cavaliers have now lost 38 out of their last 41 games.

Kevin Martin, pictured above, and Chase Buddinger combined to score 60 points on Wednesday night

Houston travels home to host the Nets, fresh off of the acquisition off Derron Williams today, on Saturday night at the Toyota Center.  The Cavs remain home to play Camelo Anthony and the new look Knicks on Friday.