by Cleveland rallied to overcome a 59-48 halftime deficit to actually take a lead briefly in the fourth quarter before ultimately falling to Western Conference Powerhouse, Oklahoma City by a final score of 117-112. This game is the first in long week that will see another matchup with OKC before they host Philadelphia and New York to finish the week.
Defending two time MVP SGA was simply too much for the Cavaliers to handle as the young man put up 43 on the Cavaliers defense tonight. He attacked in multiple facets with 43 points, 8 assists along with 11 from the foul line and sinking four from long distance as well. His main partner in crime was Ajay Mitchell who scored 20.
Donovan Mitchell was held to just 17 points on only 6 of 17 shooting in 36 minutes. Mitchell went 4 of 9 from deep and only 1-4 from the foul line in a rare tough shooting night. James Harden tried to help with a spark but could only muster up 14 points and 6 assists. They key for the Cavaliers to win is a double double from Evan Mobley and tonight that failed to happen. The big man was held to just 7 rebounds to go with his 16 points.
Meleek Thomas did his best to try and provide a spark with 17, including 5 boards but a rough shooting night from beyond the arc just going 3 of 9. That would tell the story for the Cavaliers as they went just 18 of 49 from deep. Why they had to take 49 from long distance in the first place further explains how dominant the Thunder was in the paint, simply not allowing the Cavaliers to get inside.
As mentioned, the Cavaliers began the second half down 11, before allowing the OKC lead to grow to 14 at 69-55 with 9:26 to play in the third. It was then that Cleveland began to get hot and crawl back in the game. Back to back three balls by Mitchell and Harden cut it to 69-61 and began to slowly swing the momentum back to Cleveland.
After a Jaylin Williams 23-foot three-pointer from the right corner assisted by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pushed the lead back out to 74-64, Cleveland would not trail by double digits again in the quarter. Back to back three balls by Meleek Thomas cut it to 74-70 before anyone could blink. After the Thunder pushed it back up to 9, it was back to back three balls from Sam Merrill and Mario Hezonja to shrink it back to 3 at 79-76 with 4:05 left to play in the third.
A three ball from Sam Merrill tied it at 112 with just 1:01 to play in the game. The Thunder received a three ball by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the left wing to put the Thunder up for good as the Cavaliers couldn’t answer.
