Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Houston Rockets 7/17/23
On Monday, the Houston Rockets will play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA 2K24 Summer League Championship game. Houston defeated the Utah Jazz 115-101 on Sunday to reach the final game Monday. Houston finished its 2023 Summer League schedule 5-0 after defeating Utah. However, the Jazz played without any of their three first round draft choices.
The leading scorer for Houston in its victory over Utah was Nate Hinton with 27 points while rookie Cam Whitmore, who was Houston's first round draft pick, continued to play well, scoring 25 points, grabbing four rebounds and handing out four assists. Whitmore was picked No. 20 overall in the recent NBA draft.
Cleveland also finished its summer league schedule with a perfect 5-0 record after defeating the Brooklyn Nets 102-99 in overtime on Sunday Isaiah Mobley is progressing well for Cleveland and scored a team best 23 points which included the winning shot during overtime. Mobley, who was drafted second in 2022, hit 9 of his 15 field goal attempts, while grabbing the seven rebounds.
Cleveland's Emoni Bates, who was drafted in the second round by the Cavaliers in the just completed draft, continued to impress coaches, scoring double digits in each of Cleveland's five games and on Sunday scoring 20 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Luke Travers scored 11 points and grabbed 12 boards for the Cavaliers.
This will be Cleveland's first ever summer league title game and Houston is returning to the title game for the first time since 2014 when losing to Sacramento. Houston's success will be determined by how well they play without Jabari Smith Jr. Smith is leading the summer league in scoring with an average of 35.5 points per game but is sidelined. Cleveland's Isaiah Mobley is playing well and will be tough for the Houston defense to contain. Emoni Bates has scored double figures in each of Cleveland's five games and will also cause fits for Houston's defense. Final Score Prediction, Cleveland Cavaliers win and cover ATS 100-92.
