Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason is one of the NBA's best wing defenders, a long-armed menace who racks up steals and blocks with regularity. Eason employed a dose of free-throw defense with his trash talk in Wednesday's 109-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

As of Sunday night, the Rockets are sixth in the league in net rating at +6.1. Their defense is third in the league with a defensive rating of 107.3. But the offense has now crept all the way up to eleventh league-wide with an offensive rating of 113.4. Houston is inching closer to having both a top 10 defense and offense.

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 on Wednesday night.

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Houston has had two full days off since beating the NBA-best Cavaliers Wednesday, and the two teams will again face off tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Rockets nar

The Houston Rockets' identity starts with their defense. They're known as a team that wins using physical defense to slow down opposing scoring attacks. However

Amen Thompson had his second career triple-double, Alperin Sengun and Jalen Green scored 26 points apiece and the Houston Rockets beat the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers 135-131 on Saturday night.

The Cavaliers appeared to secure the upper hand when Darius Garland was fouled on a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left, with Tari Eason charged ... again at the buzzer. Cleveland dropped to 3-3 ...

Tari Eason was charged with a flagrant ... that included a Garland layup resulting in a 99-98 Cleveland lead. Fred VanVleet stalled the Cavaliers' rally with consecutive 3-pointers to knot the ...

Third-year forward Tari Eason has been a defensive menace for the Houston Rockets, coming off the bench to provide a major boost.

In Houston’s bizarre win over Cleveland, did Tari Eason and/or broadcaster Craig Ackerman jinx Darius Garland on his late free throws? Fans think so.

The Cavaliers appeared to secure the upper hand when Darius Garland was fouled on a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left, with Tari Eason charged ... again at the buzzer. Cleveland dropped to 3-3 ...