The Cleveland Cavaliers were thrashed by the Houston Rockets. Let’s go over some of the lowlights.

LOSER – Launching Three-Pointers

The Cavs haven’t been a good three-point shooting team. We’ve written about this multiple times, but it might be more damaging than we’ve ever really acknowledged.

This whole thing doesn’t work if the Cavs aren’t elite at launching three-pointers. Everything about this roster screams ‘volume three-point shooting.’ From the two undersized guards to Sam Merrill and De’Andre Hunter. This team is built to drive-and-kick, with occasional rim pressure from the bigs.

That just isn’t happening.

Cleveland shot 31% from deep tonight and has been in the bottom-10 for three-point percentage this season. There’s no way around it. If they can’t be among the league leaders in three-point efficiency, then there’s nothing more to discuss.

LOSER – Possession Battle

The Rockets have made offensive rebounding their identity. I don’t have to tell you that’s a bad matchup for Cleveland, who has never been great at cleaning the glass.

This went as you’d have expected. Houston gobbled up 52 rebounds while the Cavaliers scrounged up just 40. In fairness, it’s easy to win the rebounding battle when your opponent shoots 43% from the field. That’s a lot of rebounds to clean up. But the Cavs also gave up 18 offensive rebounds. This was never going to work in their favor.

Worse, the Cavaliers had trouble taking care of the ball early on. They began this game in a rut, as 7 turnovers in the first quarter set the tone. The Cavs would only turn it over six times the rest of the way, but the damage was already done. Houston took that momentum and never looked back.

LOSER – Defending Kevin Durant

There aren’t many good options for defending Durant. The Cavaliers started this game with 6’5” Sam Merrill checking the 30k career scorer. You can guess how that went.

Durant had 23 points in the first half, settling into an easy groove as Merrill simply couldn’t bother him on his jumper. Once a player like KD gets rolling, he’s impossible to stop. Durant proceeded to bury contested jumpers over Dean Wade and Evan Mobley. There was nothing they could do.

De’Andre Hunter was particularly shameful in this matchup. He’s been playing the worst basketball of his career this season, and this was another awful performance. Not only was he inefficient on offense, but he might have been the worst defensive option for Durant — despite having the best physical attributes of anyone on the roster.

It doesn’t get more frustrating than that.