The injured man was treated in hospital for a head wound.
A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokeswoman said about 200 members from each side were involved in the rioting.
Some politicians said simmering tensions in the area appeared to have boiled over following a band parade on the Newtownards Road and the Old Firm football match between Celtic and Rangers.
Ulster Unionist assembly member Michael Copeland said Cluan Place came under attack.
He said he was concerned that the Army were not deployed to help the police deal with the situation.
"I feel a certain degree of sympathy for some of the police officers on the ground but anyone who looked at the potentiality of yesterday evening could have fairly easily predicted what might happen.
"And sometimes when you predict what might happen you can put resources in place on both sides to prevent it happening," Mr Copeland said.
Sinn Fein's Debra Devenney said the Short Strand had been under attack from loyalists for the past week.
Calm restored
"This cannot be allowed to escalate, people cannot live like this. They don't deserve to live like this and it needs to be resolved," she said.
"I would urge unionist politicians to contact me, try to work something out, that we can get some sort of a settlement here that people don't have to go through this."
The SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell condemned what he said was "mindless sectarian violence".
"It is incredibly fortunate that many people were not seriously injured or worse during what was hours of concentrated and hate-filled rioting."
The police said calm was restored to the area at 0230 BST after community leaders from both sides intervened.