Cavaliers silence Thunder to maintain best record in the NBA 129-122

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Wednesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, it was a historic night for the NBA. It was the first time in the 79 years of the league that two teams with 15 and 10 game winning streak had met and only the third time that two teams with double digit winning streaks have met. This time it was the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder with the league’s second-best record at 30-5 (13-3 road) on a 15-game winning streak facing the Cleveland Cavaliers who owned the NBA’s best record at 31-4 (18-1 home) and on a 10-game winning streak. The Cavs came out quick in a game where the lead changed 30 times and the Cavs shutout the Thunder in the last 2:03 to secure the 129-122 win and have now won 11 straight games and have a two-game lead over the Thunder for the best record in the NBA at 32-4.

The game began with Dean Wade hitting a three pointer just 16 seconds in and then 30 seconds later with 11:14 left on the first quarter clock Donovan Mitchell gave the Cavs a 6-0 lead. The Thunder got on the board at the 10:14 mark when Jalen Williams hit a jumper. With 8:47 left in the quarter the Thunder took a 9-8 lead on a layup by Williams. With 7:08 left the Thunder took a 12-10 lead on three by Williams. The Cavs tied the game and then took the lead 14-12 on two consecutive baskets by Jarrett Allen, the second, an uncontested dunk. After the Tunder took a 19-16 lead Cleveland tied it again when Strus hit a three from the top of the arc with 4:31 left in the opening quarter. With 3:37 left in the first quarter the Thunder took a 26-19 lead. The Cavs struggled shooting from the field and missed a couple of easy opportunities and trailed 32-25 when tine ran out in the first quarter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led everyone in scoring with eight first quarter points. Allen and Max Strus led the Cavs with six points each. The Thunder shot 42% (11 of 26) from the field while Cleveland shot 41% (9 of 22). The Thunder outrebounded the Cavs 15-11 in the first 12 minutes.

With 10:46 left in the second quarter the Cavs cut the lead to three points at 34-31 when Mobley scored in the paint and was fouled by former Cav Isaiah Hartenstein. Just 38 seconds later Mobley went to the line again and cut the Thunder lead to 34-33. Williams responded with a three to give the Tunder a 37-33 lead with 9:55 left. Mobley once again cut the Thunder lead to two points when he scored in the paint. After a miss by Mitchell in the pain the Thunder responded by scoring at the other end to take a 39-35 lead with 8:45 left when Williams hit Aaron Wiggins in the paint. For the next several minutes the game ranged between a two and four point lead for the Thunder with the Cavs not really being able to make a stop and tie the game and with 7:18 left Isaac Okoro who missed the previous eight games fouled Williams, he hit one of two free throws to give the Thunder a 44-41 lead. With 6:46 left Allen was fouled and was only able to make one of two free throws cutting the Thunder lead to 46-43. Then with 6:05 left OKC’s Cason Wallace hit a three giving them a 49-43 lead. With 5:05 left in the half the Cavs cut the lead to one point at 49-48 on a three from the corner by Darius Garland. Then with 4:46 left after the Cavs stole the ball Caris LeVert scored on a fast break giving the Cavs a 50-49 lead. After an offensive foul by Hartenstein the Cavs got the ball back trailing 53-52 and LeVert shot a three, which he missed, but Gilgeous-Alexander fouled Allen under the basket with 3:16 left before the half. Allen hit both free throws giving Cleveland a 54-53 lead. The Thunder immediately responded at the other end with a basket from SGA giving the Thunder a 55-54 lead. After the Cavs turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions, the Thunder took advantage on one of those and took a 57-54 lead with 2:01 left. The Thunder was cut to one point with 1:53 left when Mitchell was fouled and hit both free throws. The Cavs then took a 58-57 lead with 1:24 left in the second quarter when Mobley missed a three Allen got the rebound and slammed it home. After OKC took a 59-58 lead Allen hit Mobley in the paint and the Cavs took a 60-59 lead with under a minute left then with :12.6 left on the clock Mitchell brought the RMFH crowd to their feet with a thunderous dunk giving the Cavs a 62-59 lead at the halftime break. SGA led all scorers with 16 first half points. Allen paced the Cavs with 15 points and Mobley had 12 in the first 24 minutes. The Cavs shot 62% (13 of 23) in the second quarter and ended the half shooting 49% (22 of 45), while the Thunder also shot 49% (23 of 47) in the first half. From long range both teams shot 35% (6 of 17). In the second quarter the Cavs outrebounded the Thunder 12-7 and had a one board edge in the first half 23-22.

Just 48 seconds into the second half OKC regained the lead on two consecutive baskets by Hartenstein putting the Thunder up 63-62. With Cavs up 66-65 Williams drove the lane, hit the shot and was fouled by Mitchell, he hit the free throw giving OKC a 68-66 lead. The Thunder lead expanded even further when on a Cavs miss it appeared Hartenstein elbowed Allen and no foul was called and Hartenstein scored at the other end giving the Thunder a 70-66 lead with 9:34 left in the third. Cavs floor boss Kenny Atkinson had seen enough and called a timeout. He immediately let the officials know of his displeasure on the non-call. The Cavs cut the Thunder lead to 70-69 with 3:25. The Cavs then tied the game 72-72 with 9:00 left when SGA fouled Garland. The foul was SGA’s fourth personal foul of the game. The two teams started to trade threes and with 7:48 left Dean Wade hit his second in a row to give the Cavs a 78-77 lead. Then with the Thunder up 79-78 Hartenstein picked up his fourth foul, the Cavs scored on the possession to take an 80-79 lead with 7:17 left. The Cavs added to the lead after an OKC miss Mobley hit Garland in the lane to give Cleveland an 82-79 lead with 6:51 left in period number three. Then with 5:56 left in the period the Cavs took their biggest lead of the game to that point when Max Strus hit a three and put Cleveland on top 87-81. The Thunder took an immediate timeout to regroup. After the timeout the Thunder scored quickly on a three by Isaiah Joe with 5:44 left and the Cavs lead was 87-84. Then with 4:47 left after a turnover by Wade, Wallace took the ball down and dunked pulling the Thunder to within two points at 89-87. After Allen made one of two free throws Wade fouled Williams at the other end and the Cavs lead was 90-89 with 4:02 remaining. Then with 3:30 left Wiggins hit a three giving OKC a 92-90 lead. With the Thunder up 94-90 Mitchell found LeVert in the corner, and he hit a three to pull the Cavs to within one point with 2:54 left in the third. Cleveland tied the game when Mitchell hit one of two free throws after being fouled by Wallace. They then took a three point lead at 97-94 when Strus hit a three with 2:06 remaining. The Thunder then regained the lead 98-97 with 1:22 left. Cleveland came right back, and Mitchell hit a three giving the Cavs a 100-98 lead. The Thunder tied the game at 100-100 just seconds later. The Cavs then took a three point lead once again when Mitchell hit another three with 32 seconds left in the third period. As the quarter ended the Thunder cut the Cleveland lead to 103-102. SGA led all scorers with 25 points through three quarters. Allen was pacing the Cavs with 24 points. OKC was shooting 56% (41 of 73) and the Cavs were shooting 52% (37 of 71).

After the Thunder took the lead to start the third on three by Joe, the Cavs regained the lead 106-105 when Georges Niang hit a three with 10:54 remaining. After a steal by Ty Jerome, he took the ball then the length of the floor to give the Cavs a 112-107 lead with 7:39 left in the game. Jerome hit again with 7:14 left to give the Cavs a 114-107 lead. After SGA obviously stepped out of bounds and it was not called Wallace hit a three to cut the Cavs lead to 114-112 with 6:06 remaining. With 5:37 left Hartenstein picked up his fifth foul. With the Cavs up 116-112 with 4:56 remaining Jerome was fouled by Jalen Williams. Jerome hit both free throws to give the Cavs a 118-112 lead. Then with 4:21 left after the Cavs took a 121-114 lead when Mitchell hit a three. OKC was not going away. With the Cavs up 121-116 and 3:44 remaining Luguentz Dort was fouled by Mitchell, it was Mitchell’s fourth. Dort hit both free throws and the Cavs lead was 121-118. Mobley came through at the other end when Allen hit him in the paint giving Cleveland a 123-118 lead with 3:33 remaining. With 2:33 left Garland fouled SGA, the foul was Garland second. SGA made both free throws cutting the Cleveland lead to 123-120. With 2:18 left Mobley was fouled and hit one of two giving the Cavs a 124-120 lead. The Thunder then cut the Cleveland lead 124-122 with 2:03 left. With 1:37 left SGA picked up his fifth foul when he fouled Allen. Allen made 1 of 2 to give Cleveland a 125-122 lead. The Cavs got the rebound after and could not score. The officials called a foul on Mitchell. Atkinson immediately called a timeout to challenge the call at the urging of Mitchell. After replay review, the call was overturned giving the Cavs the ball. After the call was overturned Mobley drove the lane and scored with 1:05 remaining to put the Cavs on top 127-122. Then with :27.4 left the Cavs took a 129-122 lead when Garland drove the lane. OKC was in trouble and took a timeout. After the timeout OKC Jalen Williams missed and Mitchell pulled down the rebound. The Cavs took a timeout with 13 seconds left as they secured the win. After the timeout the Cavs inbounded the ball in front of the Thunder bench. Mobley tossed it into Garland who tossed it back to Mobley and he ran the clock out and the Cavs had won 11 straight and ended the Thunder’s 15 game win streak.

SGA led all scorers with 31 points in a losing effort. Jalen Williams had 25 for the OKC, but it was not enough. Allen led the Cavs with 25 points and Mobley dropped in 21 points. Both Allen and Mobley had double doubles as they pulled down 12 and 10 rebounds respectively and Mobley came within three assists of a triple double as he had seven helpers.

The Thunder outshot the Cavs from the field 53% (48 of 90) to 52% (47 of 90) the game was statistically close in all categories all night. The Cavs won the battle behind the three-point line shooting 42% (15 of 36) and the Thunder shot 36% (11 of 31). Cleveland also won the battle of the boards 41-38. The Thunder shot better from the free throw line shooting 82% to the Cavs 74% but the Cavs got to the free throw line 10 more times than the Thunder making 20 0f 27 while the OKC went to the charity stripe 17 times hitting 15.

With the win the Cavs are now five and a half games up on the second place Celtics in the Eastern Conference and eight games up on the third place Knicks. They are 13 games ahead of both the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks in the Central Division.

The Cavs will not have any rest as they will be right back in action on Thursday night at RMFH when they welcome the Toronto Raptors (8-29, 1-16 road) at 7 p.m. The Cavs are 2-0 against the Raptors this season including their opening night win in Toronto 136-106.