Cavs defeat Thunder in historic NBA matchup, snapping OKC’s 15-game winning streak
CLEVELAND — Well, the show was worthy of popping popcorn, and the Cavaliers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 129-122 in a highly anticipated, historic thriller Wednesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
It was the first matchup in NBA history between a team on a 10-game winning streak and another on a 15-game winning streak in the regular season. It was just the third meeting in NBA history between opponents riding double-digit winning streaks, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The Cavs (32-4) still own the league’s best record this season and have won their last 11 games. The Thunder (30-6) have the league’s second-best record and lead the Western Conference, but they also had their 15-game winning streak snapped — the league doesn’t count OKC’s loss Dec. 17 to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup Championship.
Here is how the game unfolded through our updates.
The Cavs’ starting big men, center Jarrett Allen and forward Evan Mobley, had a dominant outing with each recording a double-double. Allen scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Mobley compiled 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 29 points.
With 1:19 left, the Cavs won a challenge after guard Donovan Mitchell had been called for a foul on an offensive rebound tipped to him. The Cavs retained possession, and forward Evan Mobley made a hook shot with 1:07 left, giving the Cavs a 127-122 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Gilgeous-Alexander missed a layup, and the Cavs took advantage of the momentum. Point guard Darius Garland made a driving layup, lifting the Cavs to a 129-122 advantage and prompting an OKC timeout with 27.4 seconds left.
Coming out of the timeout, Thunder guard Jalen Williams missed a 3-pointer, and Mitchell grabbed the rebound. The Cavs then ran out the block.
Backup point guard Ty Jerome scored eight points and registered two steals in the fourth quarter to help give the Cavs an edge. They led 123-120 with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter.
Jerome’s steal off Gilgeous-Alexander and fast-break layup gave the Cavs a 112-107 lead with 7:39 remaining.
Another key sequence unfolded when Cavs center Jarrett Allen blocked a shot at the rim by Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, and guard Donovan Mitchell then made a 3-pointer to give Cleveland a 121-114 advantage with 4:32 left.
The Cavs held a 106-105 lead with 9:32 left in the fourth quarter during a successful OKC challenge resulting in the Thunder taking possession.
The two teams traded 3-pointers to begin the fourth quarter, with Thunder guard Isaiah Joe and Cavs forward Georges Niang supplying the shooting. Niang’s 3 with 10:54 remaining accounted for his first points of the game.
The Cavs will take a 103-102 lead into the final quarter in a game that seems like it’s destined to go down to the final possession.
Jarrett Allen has a double-double already with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Max Strus has hit five 3s and now has 15 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams have both been terrific for the Thunder with 25 and 23 points, respectively, entering the final 12 minutes of regulation.
The Cavs’ offensive spacing that has led to their scoring explosion all season is beginning to give OKC some additional problems.
Already up 84-81, the Cavs took the rebound from an OKC miss, ran the floor and found Max Strus in the corner. He buried the 3, and Cleveland now leads 87-81 halfway through the third quarter.
Strus now has 12 points tonight and is 4 for 5 from 3-point range.
The Cavs are on a 9-2 run since SGA had to leave the game with his fourth foul.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein will both have to be careful for the rest of the night, as both just picked up their fourth fouls back-to-back with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Led by back-to-back 3s by Dean Wade, the Cavs are holding onto an 84-81 lead.
Jarrett Allen also now has 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists tonight. He’s having his best game of the season.
OKC has grabbed the lead coming out of the locker room at halftime, 70-66, with 9:34 left in the third quarter.
The Cavs have gone inside tonight, with Jarrett Allen especially being more involved in the offense. Allen has a team-high 17 points with seven rebounds. Evan Mobley had 14 points and four rebounds, with those two combining for 31 points to help make up for the lack of production from Donovan Mitchell, who is still spinning his tires with four points tonight.
Donovan Mitchell only had one basket from the floor the entire first half, but it was a loud one, and the Cavs will take a 62-59 lead into halftime.
First, Evan Mobley found Jarrett Allen for yet another alley-oop in the half’s final minute.
After an OKC miss, Mitchell found some room in the lane and threw down a monstrous two-handed dunk to extend the Cavs’ lead.
The Cavs lead by three despite Mitchell scoring only four points in the half.
From a shooting percentage standpoint, this game has been perfectly even. Both teams are shooting 48 percent from the floor and 35 percent from 3-point range.
The Thunder have been able to force enough turnovers to maintain a small lead over the Cavs, which now stands at 57-56 with just under two minutes to go in the second quarter.
Evan Mobley has put the ball on the floor a lot tonight and has a team-high 12 points to go with four rebounds. Jarrett Allen has 11 points and four rebounds. Darius Garland has eight points. Donovan Mitchell has been very quiet, scoring just two points so far. He was held scoreless until 1:53 left in the first half.
The playoff atmosphere had Kenny Atkinson and the Cavs staff talking about any extra hand signals they might need with the crowd noise tonight, and this game continues to have a possession-by-possession feel.
The Thunder lead 39-35 with 8:45 to go in the second quarter. The Cavs offense has been a bit slower against OKC’s No. 1-ranked defense, shooting just 41 percent from the floor thus far.
Outside of Jarrett Allen’s back-to-back dunks, the Cavs offense has been held in check to this point.
The Cavs were sloppy late in the first quarter. Consequently, they trailed 32-25 entering the second quarter.
Forward Georges Niang missed a layup from point-blank range on a would-be assist from guard Caris LeVert with 50 seconds left in the opening quarter. Then forward Evan Mobley failed to seal off Isaiah Hartenstein from an offensive rebound. Hartenstein drew a foul from Niang and made two foul shots to give OKC a 32-25 edge with 27.4 seconds left in the first quarter.
Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high eight points through one quarter. Center Jarrett Allen and small forward Max Strus led the Cavs with six points apiece in the opening quarter.
After the score had been tied 19-19, the Thunder went on a 7-0 run. Strus stopped the bleeding for the Cavs by draining a 3-pointer with 2:57 remaining, cutting Cleveland’s deficit to 26-22.
On the heels of the officials calling Mobley for a questionable foul, Gilgeous-Alexander made two foul shots to give OKC a 28-22 lead with 2:17 left.
Forward Jalen Williams is giving the Cavs trouble early. With 6:33 left in the first quarter, he had seven of the Thunder’s 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, and the Cavs trailed 12-10 during a timeout.
The Cavs have been warned about Williams. Before the game, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said, “You better be careful being too Shai-centric. If you’re too Shai-centric, [Williams is] going to drop 35 on you.”
The Cavs took a 6-0 lead when forward Dean Wade and point guard Darius Garland started the game by making back-to-back 3-pointers.
Is it January or April in downtown Cleveland? The crowd in the arena is in postseason mode, and it went wild when Wade and Garland nailed 3-pointers to start the game.
Here is some pregame information:
How the Cleveland Cavs and Oklahoma City Thunder are making history
The Cavs have earned their best start to a season in franchise history. For the first time, they have won 10 games in a row all by 10-plus points. The feat also tied an NBA record.
The Thunder have also registered their best start in club history. And their 15-game winning streak is another team record. The Cavs set a franchise record for longest winning streak by starting this season 15-0.
The Cavs and Thunder are the only two NBA teams with at least 30 wins this season. This is the first interconference game in league history between teams with a winning percentage of .850 or higher this late into a season.
Only two other NBA games between teams on double-digit winning streaks have occurred. The most recent one was on Feb. 29, 2000, when the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers each had 11-game winning streaks until LA prevailed 90-87. The other one took place when the Seattle SuperSonics and Utah Jazz each had a 10-game winning streak and encountered one another on Jan. 26, 1995. The Jazz won 120-108.
Other numbers to know for Cavs vs Thunder
The Cavs lead the NBA in offensive rating (121.3). The Thunder lead the league in defensive rating (102.7).
The Cavs are 18-1 at home and 10-0 against Western Conference opponents. The Thunder are 13-3 on the road and 11-0 against the East.
Cavs injury report
The Cavs initially listed small forward Isaac Okoro (sprained AC joint in right shoulder) and guard Sam Merrill (sprained right ankle) as questionable to play. Later, the Cavs announced Okoro would be available to play for the first time since Dec. 16, but Merrill was ruled out. Okoro had missed eight consecutive games.
Thunder injury report
The Thunder ruled out guard Alex Caruso (left hip strain), forward Chet Holmgren (right iliac wing fracture), guard Ajay Mitchell (sprained toe) and guard Nikola Topic (left knee surgery).
Cleveland Cavaliers broadcast information. How can I watch on TV, listen on radio or stream the Cavs, Thunder game?
Wednesday’s game can be watched nationally on ESPN and locally on the FanDuel Sports Network. It can be heard on the radio via WMMS (100.7-FM) and WTAM (1100-AM).
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
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