Trailing the Houston Rockets 109–107 in the closing seconds, Cavaliers guard Darius Garland was fouled on a three-point attempt by Tari Eason and was gifted three free-throw attempts. After review, officials deemed that Eason's close-out was actually "reckless" and upgraded the personal foul to a flagrant foul 1—meaning Garland would get three free-throw attempts and the Cavaliers would receive the ball.

Darius Garland is a 90% free throw shooter. That did not matter Wednesday night. The Cleveland point guard had a chance to give his Cavaliers the lead at the free throw line with 2.1 seconds remaining against the Houston Rockets.

Even though the Cavs trailed for most of the game, they went back to their defensive roots early in the fourth quarter, stifling the Rockets, taking their first lead since early in the second quarter and having a chance to pull off the comeback.

The Rockets hit two free throws late while the Cavaliers missed two free throws seconds later, allowing Houston to hold off Cleveland .

Alperen Sengun made two free throws with 4.5 seconds left and Darius Garland missed two of three free throws after that to allow the Houston Rockets to hold on for a 109-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before the 2024-25 season started, Darius Garland thought about leaving the Cavaliers following their second-round exit from the playoffs.

First, the Cavs walked the walk with a signature win over the Thunder. Now, Darius Garland says Cleveland deserves four All-Stars.

With the Cavaliers down two points, Darius Garland, their potential All-Star guard and 90 percent free-throw shooter, sat alone at the free-throw line with three chances to give Cleveland the lead. Even if he failed,

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a winning machine lately, and it looked like they had put themselves in an improbable position to pick up another victory on Wednesday night. After the Houston Rockets had taken a 13-point fourth quarter lead at home and seemed poised to close the Cavaliers out,