In the news: OKC Thunder destruction of Cavaliers prompts spotlight shift

Bemoaning the loss of Kyrie Irving:

Certainly the loss of Kyrie Irving is showing more than ever through this season. Neither Irving or Thomas are going to be in the running for DPOY, but watching Westbrook rise and shoot over Thomas with ample room to spare punctuates the issues Cleveland will have with Thomas on the floor.

For a team who struggle so profusely on defense it just doesn’t feel like Thomas’ offense will be enough to counter that problem. Teams are going to run everything at him and when a teammate comes to help it will leave another opponent wide open. Suffice to say it sure doesn’t feel like Cleveland’s defensive woes are going away anytime soon.

OKC Thunder gain breathing room:

The reason I feel this win was so important was because it showed precisely how free flowing the OKC Thunder offense could be. After a season being dissected with few pundits believing the OK3 would ever figure things out this win provides evidence to the contrary. And, if only gpt a day, the critics spotlight shifts elsewhere.

With the uncertainty of Paul George’s future the constant dissection, presumption and negativity resulted in added pressure. If nothing else this Cavaliers losing stand speaks to how bad they are defensively and should give OKC  some breathing room.

Masters know how to address negativity and rumors:

I’ll also offer, Cleveland has no one but themselves to blame. First and foremost is their lacking effort. Cleveland’s management may be partly to blame for this. The trade rumors can’t help but  affect the proposed targets and that carries over into their play.

Tristan Thompson is working his way back from injury with his play being put under the microscope. In fairness, when Thompson does his job he’s not getting any help on the back end of the play. So, it feels like Thompson has become the scapegoat, which from this scribes perspective is extremely unfair.

Several clubs are known for keeping their internal workings private. OKC is one of those clubs. Like the Spurs RC Buford and Raptors Masai Ujiri,  Sam Presti simply remains mum. Although each tend to avoid confirmation or denial of rumors even this typically tight lipped group would recognize the negative effect saying nothing would have on the players and the camaraderie. Particularly if their team was reeling like the Cavaliers are.