As human beings, sometimes our emotions can get the best of us. On Wednesday night they finally caught up to Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas after he watched his team drop their ninth straight game losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers 112 – 96.

"Our defense wasn't good, and our offense was disjointed," Silas said lacking his normal positive and upbeat tone. "It wasn't very good all around."

Coming off a victory over the Atlanta Hawks the night before to break a 10-game losing streak, the Cavaliers took advantage of a small Rockets lineup that started forward P.J. Tucker at the center position. Jarrett Allen had a career high 26 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in only the 12th win on the season for Cleveland.

"He plays off his teammates well and he knows they're looking for him," said Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

Allen, a native Texan who played one year at the University of Texas before becoming the 22nd overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets was very efficient on the night as he went 10 of 11 from the field. He currently leads the NBA in field goal percentage.

The Rockets were led in scoring once again by John Wall who had 20 points on the night, while Victor Oladipo returned to the starting lineup after missing the last five games due to a strained right foot suffered against the Miami Heat to chip in 17 points. Wall was very clear in his post- game press conference on what was the root issue in the loss.

“They made more shots and when they did miss, Jarrett Allen was there to pick up the misses,” said Wall who also praised the efforts of his teammates. “We are out there competing doing the best we can, but with a small lineup it can be tough at times.”

Houston will have to use the smaller lineup over the next four games leading up to the NBA All-Star break as center Christian Wood (Ankle) is not set to return until after that time.