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.

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

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.

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.

Darius Garland entered this season with something specific on his mind. Revenge. “This is my revenge season,” Garland told a small group of reporters, including cleveland.com, on Tuesday morning after the Cavs’ shootaround inside Indiana’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse,