NBA on Nov. 24: Six of seven home teams claim victory

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The NBA 2018-19 regular season finished Saturday with seven games of which six were won by the home team. The Houston Rockets lost their second game in a row to the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-117, creating the biggest sleeper of the day.

Rockets have more to worry about than two straight losses

Mike D'Antoni (R) head coach of the Houston Rockets may need to rethink about his obession with short roster. /VCG Photo

The Rockets removed Chris Paul from the roster for this game to help the 33-year-old get some rest but they might be regretting it already. James Harden put down 40 points and 13 assists but also nine turnovers, including three consecutive ones at the beginning. Without Paul, Houston must put Eric Gordon in the first squad for offense. Gordon finished part of his job by scoring 28 points, yet he did not deliver even one assist.

In defense, Houston were apparently not ready to confront Tristan Thompson who took a total of 20 rebounds. By contrast, Clint Capela got 10 rebounds and that was already more than any of his teammates, which partly explained why the Cavaliers were leading in rebounds 49-30 during the game.

Collin Sexton #2 of the Celveland Cavaliers scores career-high 29 points to help his team beat the Rockets 117-108. /VCG Photo

Cleveland's one-year rookie Collin Sexton made the biggest contribution to his team's victory by making 14 of 21 shots to drop a career-high 29 points. His combination of penetration and jump-shooting, including leading a 9-2 run in the last moment of the game ruined Houston's last efforts to catch up.

The two back-to-back losses were bad news but there's something else that deserved the Rockets' attention. The team's head coach, Mike D'Antoni, presented a nine-player roster for the game but if you ignore Michael Carter-Williams (four minutes) and Isaiah Hartenstein (three minutes), it's actually a seven-man roster which placed players on the court under heavy burden.

James Harden #13 plays 44 minutes in the second back-to-back game. /VCG Photo

Moreover, three of Houston's first-squad - Harden, P.J. Tucker and Capela - all played over 40 minutes in the game, longer than most players in even the playoffs. In today's era of fast paced and small-ball play, such over consumption will not only lead to fatigue late into games, but also increase the risk of injury. The Rockets already learnt their lesson last season as they lost Paul and the Western Conference Finals.

D'Antoni's style has determined that his team must rely on superstars, meaning that role players of his franchise lack initiative compared to other teams. Furthermore, Houston lost too many unnecessary games at the beginning of the season and thus they have to care about every result in the rest of the season. How to maintain the balance between going for a good ranking and protecting players' health will be a real puzzle for the team.

Timberwolves beat Bulls with poor shooting

Karl-Anthony Towns #32 dominates the paint with 35 points, 22 rebounds and six assists to help the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Chicago Bulls 111-96. /VCG Photo

At home, the Minnesota Timberwolves took a 15-point win over the Chicago Bulls (111-96). The victory should not come as surprise as the Timberwolves dominated the paint. They led in rebounds (58-40) and Karl-Anthony Towns was unstoppable with 35 points, 22 rebounds and six assists. No matter who the Bulls put in front of him, they seemed unable to make any trouble.

However, it was also very hard to ignore Minnesota's poor shooting, or specifically, the performances of Andrew Wiggins and Robert Covington. As two first-squad players of the team, Wiggins and Covington scored in total four points after making only one of 30 shots. Wiggins missed all his 12 attempts while Covington put in only one out of 18, it's difficult to say who's a bigger disaster in offense.

Robert Covington #33 and Andrew Wiggins #22 together make only one shots out of 30 attempts. /VCG Photo

As a matter of fact, the two created some awkward records after the game. Covington set a new record for missing three-point shots: 0/10. Wiggin, who missed all 12 shots, had the second worst shooting performance in Timberwolves history, only next to Tom Gugliotta who missed 13 in 1996.

Other games on Saturday included: (away teams come first)

Klay Thompson #11 makes a game-winning shot to help the Golden State Warriors defeat the Sacramento Kings 117-116. /VCG Photo

New Orleans Pelicans 114-124 Washington Wizards

Denver Nuggets 105-98 Oklahoma City Thunder

Boston Celtics 104-113 Dallas Mavericks

San Antonio Spurs 129-135 Milwaukee Bucks

Sacramento Kings 116-117 Golden State Warriors