Budinger’s 30 lift Rockets past Cavs

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Reserve Chase Budinger scored a career-high 30 points, including 11 straight in the fourth quarter, and Kevin Martin added 30 more to lead the Houston Rockets to a 124-119 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Budinger and Martin combined to score Houston’s final 24 points as the Rockets avoided losing to the NBA’s worst team.

The Cavaliers, coming off a shocking upset of the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in their final game before the All-Star break, were led by Antawn Jamison’s 26 points. Ramon Sessions added 20 and 12 assists for Cleveland.

Chuck Hayes had 17 rebounds for the Rockets, who are hoping to gain ground in the Western Conference, which has been shaken up by the blockbuster trades of Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams.

Budinger was an unlikely hero for the Rockets, who opened the season’s unofficial second half in 11th place out West. But the 6-foot-7 forward made the most of his 29 minutes, making four 3-pointers and adding eight rebounds.

With Hayes grabbing an arena-record 13 offensive rebounds, Houston dominated the boards, outrebounding Cleveland 57-37.

Budinger’s 3 with 6:15 left put the Rockets ahead 107-104, and he capped his personal 11-point run with a layup to make it 111-107. The Cavs went cold from the floor and Martin scored two straight buckets, the second on a layup after Kyle Lowry threw him a long, overhead pass, as the Rockets won their fourth straight road game.