One of the teams was destined to end a five game losing streak in the match-up between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. Both teams were ravaged by injuries. The Celtics were without Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, Courtney Lee and Jared Sullinger. The Celtics also had the misfortune of playing on the second night of a back-to-back on the road. The Cavaliers had to give it a go without Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Anderson Varejao. The Cavs did not make the most of playing at home and not having played a game since they were in Houston on Friday.

Other than Jeff Green's buzzer-beating layup to end the game wit the Celtics up 93-92, the obvious factor for the loss was the discrepancy in free throws. Boston attempted 28 free throws in comparison to 14 for Cleveland. In addition to not getting many free throw attempts, the Cavs failed to materialize when they actually did. The Cavs made 9 free throws, which was good for a lackluster 64.3%. Had the Cavs made 2 more free throws, they would have probably won the game.

With the Celtics not having Kevin Garnett and Jared Sullinger available, it was important that the Cavaliers big men came ready to play. Tyler Zeller came out strong scoring7 points and securing 6 rebounds in the first quarter of play. Zeller scored in a wide-array of ways. He did so from mid-range jump shots and even put the ball on the floor and dunked. Even though Zeller finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds, it is difficult to not be disappointed that he did not have a strong second half. When a player comes out of the gate so well, it is expected that he will do better than score 2 points and grab 1 rebound in the second half of the game.

Tristan Thompson had a suspect game. The second year power forward missed all but one shot on his way to a 2 point and 9 rebound performance. Despite his offensive struggles, he had the highest +/- for the Cavs with a +7 in the game.

Paul Pierce was fantastic for the Celtics. He started off fairly slowly, but got better as the game progressed. Pierce finished the night with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. The only blemish on the box score was his 7 turnovers. What was interesting about the final possession in the game is that most people probably assumed that it would be Pierce who took the final shot. Pierce may have been used as a decoy for the Celtics who relied on Jeff Green to take and convert on a game-winning layup.

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There are a lot of things that are out of the control of a head coach, which is a lesson that Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott knows all to well.

You can’t hold it against Scott that LeBron James left in free agency just a short time after Scott took over the job.

Or that center Anderson Varejao missed 51 games in 2011 with a torn ligament in his foot, 41 games last year after breaking his wrist or 57 games this year with a longitudinal split of a muscle between his quadriceps and knee.

Or that point guard Kyrie Irving missed 15 games last season, broke his hand over the summer and has missed 20 games (and counting) so far this season.

Or that Dion Waiters has missed the past week with loose cartilage in his knee that may require arthroscopic surgery.

Or that when he looks at his bench he sees Omri Casspi and Luke Walton staring back at him.

Even taking all those factors into consideration, we can’t help but still feel we need to ask an important question:

Is Scott the right man for the job?

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You can file under the heading “inevitable” Cleveland’s 116-78 loss to the Rockets on Friday night. Injury-depleted and coming off their stunning, emotional loss to Miami on Wednesday, the Cavaliers were doomed before they stepped onto the floor at the Toyota Center against the now-38-31 Rockets, who are on their way to securing a berth in the Western Conference Playoffs.

The Cavaliers started off well enough, knocking in their first three shot attempts and moving out to a 23-20 lead late in the first quarter. But an 8-2 run gave Houston the lead for good at the end of one, and from there the Rockets blew it open. With Cleveland making just two field goals in the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter, Houston rolled to a 58-43 halftime lead.

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The Cavaliers seem to be in a little bit of a pattern. In games where they fall behind by quite a bit in the opening minutes, they either tend to win or have their rally come up short. In games where they lead by a significant amount early, they have the wheels fall off and lose. The latter happened against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. The Cavs began the game on a 21-12 run, but it was not enough to secure a win. The Mavericks eventually won by a final score of 96-86.

It was going to be tough to beat the Mavericks on the road with Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao already out with injuries. When news broke that Wayne Ellington would miss the game due to an injury, it made things even more difficult. Daniel Gibson took the bulk of his minutes and was essentially a non-factor. Gibson played 21 minutes and literally did nothing but record 4 assists and miss a three point attempt. Gibson had the worst +/- in the game with a -17. Gibson has been the odd man out in the rotation for the Cavaliers, so rust should be expected. Having said that, it is concerning that he looks to be afraid to shoot. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things because these are likely his last games as a member of the Cavaliers. However, the Cavs only lost by ten points and that may not have happened if one more bench player could have stepped up.

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