Oklahoma City Thunder host Cleveland Cavaliers in prime time match-up
By Chris Hughes
The Oklahoma City Thunder face the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight in a game that’ll be the first of back-to-back games against conference leaders. Tip-off is 7:00 PM C.T.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will continue their tough run of games with three more challenging fixtures – the first of which is tonight, against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Russell Westbrook and co. have already faced the Cavaliers within the last two weeks, a run which also featured tough match-ups against the San Antonio Spurs and the Chicago Bulls. After their second game against the 2016 champions tonight, Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors come to town on Saturday.
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The Cavaliers meanwhile have started the month in emphatic fashion having previously slumped to a fairly average January. LeBron James’ side lost seven games in total last month, having previously only lost eight for the whole campaign. They’ve started this month perfect winning four out of four games.
Oklahoma City Thunder on the other hand have won five of their last ten, slipping to the seventh seed as a result. This means that they sit at the foot of the group of teams between the 30 and 33 win mark.
However the Oklahoma City Thunder have spent the majority of this calendar year away from the Chesapeake, with the side having actually won five of their six home games so far in 2017. Their only defeat was the blowout loss against the Bulls at the start of this month.
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Previous Match-ups
The Cavaliers have won their last four regular-season games against the Thunder, a run that stretches back until early 2015.
What’s more, Cleveland have limited their next opponents to under a hundred points in three of those last four games, and in the only game the Thunder did hit triple digits, they literally scored 100.
In the four games LeBron has played against Oklahoma City Thunder since re-joining from the Miami Heat he has averaged a whopping 29.3 points. In the five games Westbrook has played against the Cavaliers since the start of 2014/15 season, he has averaged just 22.4 points.
The Cavaliers have scored over 100 points in six of their last eight against the Thunder. Despite this, OKC boast the better overall record against Cleveland, winning 61 in comparison to the latter’s 47.
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Key Players and Predicted Line-ups
For the Thunder, they will be heavily reliant on the efforts of their guards Westbrook and Victor Oladipo. With Enes Kanter still out for the foreseeable future, the points returns of their back-court have become vital.
The former is still leading the league in points and averaging a triple double, thanks to a stat-line of 30.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.2 assists. Since the Thunder’s last loss against the Cavaliers, the point guard has averaged 32.4 points with a 40 percent three-point conversion.
Meanwhile Oladipo is averaging 16.0 points for the season, OKC’s next best average. The shooting guard has added 2.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds to his game this season.
Andre Roberson could also play an important role tonight. In addition to guarding the ever-problematic LeBron James, the 25-year-old could cause a threat of the front foot, having hit double-doubles in each of his last two games.
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Predicted Starting Five:
- Point Guard: Russell Westbrook
- Shooting Guard: Victor Oladipo
- Small Forward: Andre Roberson
- Power Forward: Domantas Sabonis
- Center: Steven Adams
Notable Substitutes: Alex Abrines (SG), Joffrey Lauvergne (PF, C).
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Meanwhile for the Cavaliers they will look to both LeBron and Kyrie Irving to both set up and score their points tonight. The duo are the only team in whole roster to have averaged more than two assists per game for the season.
King James is leading the side with 25.9 points per game, with just short of eight rebounds and nine assists per game. The 24-year-old Irving boasts 24.2 points per game for the campaign, a figure that would stand as a career-high average should it remain until the end of the season.
Meanwhile the Cavs’ big men will also prove vital to their success. Kevin Love completes the side’s trio of players who are averaging 20 points or more. Since returning from injury he has scored 23 against New York, 39 against the Wizards, and registered a double-double of 14 points along with 10 rebounds (and was a plus +19) against Indiana last night.
What’s more Tristian Thompson, who has started a team-high 50 games for the side so far this season, grabbed four blocks and four steals against the Thunder in the side’s last meeting.
Predicted Starting Five:
- Point Guard: Kyrie Irving
- Shooting Guard: Iman Shumpert (*)
- Small Forward: LeBron James
- Power Forward: Kevin Love
- Center: Tristian Thompson
Notable Substitutes: Kyle Korver (SG), Channing Frye (PF).
Notes: (*) Shumpert is currently listed as day-to-day, and could be replaced by either Korver or DeAndre Liggins.
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Injuries and Game Specifics
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The Thunder will once again be without their sixth man Enes Kanter, who remains sidelined with a forearm fracture. Coming off the bench in the front-court for more minutes will be Joffrey Lauvergne. Alex Abrines is fit again to play, having featured in the loss to the Pacers earlier this week.
Meanwhile for the Cavaliers, they could be without Iman Shumpert in the shooting guard spot, with ESPN listing him as ‘day-to-day’ due to an ankle problem. Irving missed the side’s win against the Knicks last week but has featured in every game since.
You can listen along on WWLS 98.1FM OKC or tune in to NBA on TNT to watch the game. Tip-off is 7:00 PM C.T.
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