ON THE BALL, THUNDER ROLL CAVS!!

 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

                                                      (photo courtesy of NBA.com)



         Back on January 8th, the Cavs took down the Thunder in dramatic fashion on their way to earning the NBA's best record, and one would think that lightning would strike twice for Cleveland. Thursday night that was not the case as the Thunder destroyed the Cavs 134-114 before anything or anyone could blink. 


To be fair to the Thunder, this was more of a "revenge game" for them more than it was for Cavs star guard Donovan Mitchell. In his last outing against the Thunder, Mitchell scored just 11 points, which was well below his 23ppg average. With all the hype and build up leading up to Thursday night it would be assumed that Mitchell would have one of his best performances of the season. That all changed right after tip-off. 


Oklahoma City showed why they are the best defensive team in the league. The Thunder defense held the Cavs to 46% from the field and 13-42 from behind the arch. With Oklahoma City's leading rebounder Isaiah Hartenstein on the shelf due o injury, it was expected that the duo of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen would have dominated the glass and gave the Cavs plenty of second chance points. The Thunder on the other hand had other ideas. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lead the way for all Thunder players with 40 points. Helping the Thunder control the pace of the game as well as put the game on ice midway through the third quarter. 


It's important to mention that the Thunder outscored the Cavs in every quarter of the game. Only trailing once early in the first. This win gave the Thunder their seventh home win in a row. While the Cavs will lick this wound and travel to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves on Saturday night. The loss dropped the Cavs to 34-6, but I'm willing to bet they bounce back against the Wolves and then get ready for the Suns on Monday. If both teams keep pace and stay healthy and strong for the rest of the season and through the playoffs, this could potentially be a NBA Finals match-up worth watching. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out for both teams.


The Cavs had an off night but still control their own destiny and still have a lot left in the tank. Don't be surprised if this team plays with bad intentions from here on out.

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