A sloppy start cost the Cleveland Cavaliers in their 124-116 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. They’ve now dropped five straight games to OKC.
Three stars of the game
First star: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
42 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds
It was another day in the office for the reigning back-to-back MVP. SGA got to his spots on the floor, no matter how many defenders they threw his way. This allowed him to score over 40 points for the second time this week against the Cavs.
There was simply nothing Cleveland could do to slow down Gilgeous-Alexander, or really,
even make it challenging.
Second star: Ajay Mitchell
23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Ajay Mitchell provided timely baskets whenever it seemed like the Cavs were getting any kind of momentum. He served as the offensive engine when SGA was off the court, and as the counterpunch when he was.
Third star: Donovan Mitchell
27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
Mitchell’s stat line is a little deceiving. He was an incredibly efficient scorer, but he didn’t make a constant impact throughout all four quarters.
The Cavs needed something to wake them up in the first half, but Mitchell couldn’t do it. He was a non-factor, as he had just six points in a half the Cavs only had 44.
Something flipped in the second half, particularly down the stretch of the fourth quarter. Mitchell put up 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting with four assists in the final frame alone. Unfortunately for Cleveland, that all came after the game was effectively decided.
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Dud of the game
Meleek Thomas
9 points, 0 assists, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, 6 fouls
Thomas looked like a rookie for one of the first times this season. He struggled to make an impact on the scoreboard and was picked on defensively — particularly by the reigning MVP when he got an opportunity to do so. This led to Thomas fouling out in just 18 minutes.
Cavaliers who deserve shoutouts
Mario Hezonja
12 points on 5-for-10 shooting, 8 rebounds
The Cavs need someone to provide tertiary ball-handling, rebounding, and who thinks the game at a high level. Hezonja has consistently supplied that and did so again in Oklahoma City.
I’m not sure why Hezonja doesn’t get more minutes than he does, or see the floor in closing situations — especially in a game Jarrett Allen left with an injury. In this one, head coach Kenny Atkinson went with Tyrese Proctor (until he left with an injury) and then with Craig Porter Jr. Having a third guard makes sense for a team that struggles with ball pressure, but can’t Hezonja help with that in addition to supplying extra rebounding and shooting? I just don’t get it.
Tyrese Proctor
11 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal
Proctor performed well in his second career start. He provided some off-ball shooting and held his own defensively. That’s what you want to see from a second-year player who’s thrown into the starting lineup.
Tristan Enaruna
4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
An injury to Allen forced Enaruna into his first-ever rotation minutes, and he performed admirably. His size and energy on the defensive end were much needed on an evening the Cavs were severely lacking wing defenders due to injuries — even if he wasn’t necessarily perfect on that end.
The offensive numbers weren’t necessarily impressive. Enaruna went just 2-for-7 from the field, which included going 0-for-3 from distance. However, a couple of those threes went halfway down before popping back out.
Getting serviceable minutes from two-way players is more necessary than ever. Pace, offensive rebounding, and where defenders are picking up their offensive assignments are higher than ever. This has created more injuries. Throw in the second-apron restrictions, and it’s almost a necessity for teams to have two-way players (whose salaries don’t count against the cap) who can provide fill-in rotation minutes when needed.
This performance doesn’t mean Enaruna will be a mainstay in the rotation or anything like that, but it did show that he can provide playable minutes when called upon.
Play of the game
Mitchell was awesome down the stretch, it just came too little too late.
Quote of the day
“Dissapointed in our first quarter. Three quarers [were] really solid play, and you have one quarter where you’re not up to par. Like I said, the turnoves, the live-ball turnovers, they just get the other team going, and you know, it kind of snow balls.”
– Kenny Atkinson
The Cavs have struggled to stop the bleeding so far this year. There’s been one quarter, or extended stretch of play in each of their losses where they let go of the rope. That happened in the first quarter here, when they were beaten 37-20. Cleveland outscored Oklahoma City for each of the next three quarters, but that doesn’t matter much when you have a start like this.
Stat of the game
Only 20 of Cleveland’s 93 shots came at the rim (16th percentile).
The Cavs’ three-point volume and accuracy allowed them to have a slightly above league-average offensive output in this game. However, it’s nearly impossible to have a truly effective offense if you aren’t getting to the rim well. If you aren’t getting to the basket, you likely aren’t getting to the line either, which was an issue for the Cavs.
My takeaway from this game: The Cavs need the James Harden we saw in the second and third quarters
This game turned around when Harden did. There was a stretch from the end of the second quarter to the start of the third where Harden looked like the best version of himself for one of the few times this season.
Harden was up to his old tricks during that run. He was able to establish the three-point shot midway through the second quarter, which opened up the rest of his game. The threat of that shot caused defenders to bite too hard on step-backs and made them a step slow when he drove inside. This allowed Harden to be an effective playmaker at all three levels, which isn’t something he’s been able to do on command so far this campaign. He scored or assisted on 16 points during the Cavs’ 18-3 run at the start of the third quarter that allowed Cleveland to make this a moderately competitive game.
The Cavs’ success this year hinges on Harden’s, which is why things have been so rocky at the start. Harden has posted his career-worst free-throw rate and has struggled to hit anything inside 14 feet. This has handicapped his effectiveness and left him mostly an outside shooter.
Cleveland desperately needs the version of Harden we got a glimpse of here if they want to succeed against high-level teams. Or at the very least, they need that iteration if they’re going to be this isolation-heavy with both guards.
The entire offense is predicated on the guards drawing extra defenders to them. If they can do that, the kick-out threes open up, as do windows to get their bigs involved. Conversely, when they aren’t getting inside, the ball and player movement can stagnate. This leads to turnovers and settling for contested jump shots — as we’ve seen during Cleveland’s worst stretches.
Relying this heavily on a 37-year-old isn’t ideal, but it’s where the Cavs find themselves. And they will continue to be at this spot unless they drastically alter their offensive process.
