The Cavaliers are off Jan. 26 before hosting the Pistons on Jan. 27 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The one-day break could not come at a better time. The Cavs on Jan. 25 fought back from a 19-point deficit to the Rockets to make it 124-124, on a pair of free throws by Darius Garland with 1:51 to play, but they did not finish the job and walked off their home court on the short end of a 135-131 final. The Cavaliers have lost three straight games for the first time this season. They have lost five of their last eight, but at 36-9 they still have a commanding 4.5-game lead on the Celtics in the Eastern Conference. Kenny Atkinson was not happy with the way the #Cavaliers defended Saturday night in the 135-131 loss to the #Rockets, but he isn't panicking because Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland are strong leaders. pic.twitter.com/VwyQQPyG46 — Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) January 26, 2025 Losing streaks, obviously, are never good, but maybe the first half of the season was too easy for the Cavaliers. They started 15-0 and then won 12 straight before hitting the current rough patch. They did not suddenly turn into a mediocre basketball team. Isaac Okoro missed the last five games, including the loss to Houston on Jan. 25, with a shoulder injury. Caris LeVert has missed four straight games with a wrist injury. A knee injury prevented Dean Wade from playing against the Rockets. Evan Mobley started against the Rockets after missing four games with a calf injury, but he was not the dominant rim protector he normally is. He scored seven points and gathered eight rebounds in 29 minutes. Jarrett Allen played 29 minutes, got into foul trouble early, and finished with only five rebounds. If the Cavaliers need a test to figure a way to get their mojo back, mid-January is the time to take it, because there will be rough patches in the playoffs. “This is three games we lost by eight points total,” Coach Kenny Atkinson said. “This is our first patch of adversity. This is the NBA. It’s tough. This is our fifth game in seven days. “Let’s see how we react. Let’s see how we respond to this. Boston was 5-5 (over 10 games). We’re 3-5. We’ve had some injuries. Your roster is thinner. Now you’re playing guys more. It kind of cascades. We need a day off badly to regroup, but I don’t see slippage in chemistry or leadership. Those are the things that would concern me. I’m positive we’ll bounce back.” The Rockets beat the Cavaliers, 109-108, on Jan. 22. Garland and Donovan Mitchell did everything they could Jan. 25 to prevent a Houston sweep. But without a full team around them, it wasn’t enough. Garland scored a game-high 39 points. Mitchell scored the first eight Cleveland points, didn’t score again until a layup with 7:25 left in the third quarter cut the deficit to 76-63, yet finished with 33 points. Mitchell finished with seven assists. Garland had nine. It was not a case of the two stars trying to pad their point total late in the game. “We have great leadership,” Atkinson said. “I know Donovan is a max player and a superstar, but he did it at both ends. And Darius — that’s why I’m so positive about this. When you have great leadership, great competitors, when your two quarterbacks fight to the end, it’s really positive.” This is the first time the Cavaliers have not owned the league’s best record outright or shared it. The Thunder, first in the Western Conference by six games over the Rockets, are 36-8.