Cavs teammates Kevin Love and Collin Sexton had high praise for Kevin Porter Jr’s performance in Wednesday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
Most experts thought the Rockets would blow the Cavs out, but that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, Cleveland stayed close throughout the entire game, even taking the lead at times. However, James Harden led Houston to victory with a whopping 55 points, 20 of which came in the fourth quarter.
The Cavs still had a shot at winning in the closing minutes, but a series of late turnovers, including two from Porter Jr, led to their defeat.
Porter Jr. came alive in the final frame, knocking down three triples to keep the game close. In his 29 minutes of action off the bench, the 19-year-old rookie finished with a career-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field (6-of-9 from beyond the arc), three assists, two rebounds and three steals.
During his post-game media availability, Love (17 points and 11 rebounds) was asked to comment on Porter’s performance:
“I think we fought against a very good team tonight,” Love told reporters following Wednesday night’s 116-110 loss to the Rockets. “KP was probably our best player. He played great tonight. He made a lot of great plays, hit a lot of threes and played the game the right way. It was fun to see.”
Sexton (18 points and three assists) had a fairly hot hand in Wednesday night’s matchup, but he knew when it was time to get Porter Jr. the ball:
“It’s amazing,” Sexton said of Porter Jr. “He got it going. When he gets it going, you see KP in his bag. You see him going between the legs and he’s just feeling it. You gotta get him the ball, because you know what he’s capable of. He was great. He did it on both ends tonight, and we’re happy for him.”
Cavs big man Tristan Thompson believes Porter Jr. is starting to figure out what he’s capable of:
“Like a coach would say, (Porter) is trending in the right direction,” Thompson said during his post-game presser. “I think KP is starting to figure out his abilities and what he can bring night in and night out, especially against second unit guys. He’s got a very special, unique chance to be very good in our league.”
Even Harden had nice things to say about Porter’s game, noting his aggressive yet confident nature:
“He’s aggressive,” Harden said of Porter. “I don’t know if he’s been like that throughout the course of the year. I haven’t really watched him.
“He looked good attacking the rim,” Harden added. “He just plays with confidence, and as a young guy, that’s what you want.”
Unfortunately, the Cavs have now dropped eight straight games. They’ll look to get back into the win column on Thursday night, when they’ll take on the Spurs inside the AT&T Center. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
