3 takeaways following OKC Thunder victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers
The OKC Thunder made it six straight wins, overcoming a gritty Cleveland Cavaliers outfit 95-86.
It wasn’t the prettiest of wins but the OKC Thunder did enough to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 95-86 and extend its win streak to six games. Dennis Schroder was the man of the hour posting a game high 28 points (11-19 shooting,0-3 from three, 6-8 free throws) to carry the Thunder’s anemic offense.
As a fan, this game was a total dud. Erik Horne of the Oklahoman sent out a tweet that best described Oklahoma City’s performance:
Thunder's offense was bricky tonight with some questionable shot selection on a handful of fourth quarter possessions leading to the Cavs' push. Once OKC settled down in last five minutes through Schroder, defense finished off depleted (and not good) Cavs.
— Erik Horne (@ErikkHorne) November 8, 2018
OKC lead for majority of the game and used stifling defense to control the Cavaliers. The Thunder forced eight turnovers in the first half and used an 8-0 run to close the half to lead 48-40. Paul George hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Oklahoma City momentum heading into the sheds.
Coming out of halftime, the Thunder scored eight straight points on the back of a Jerami Grant 3-pointer and back to back Schroder jumpers (one being an and-1) to push the lead to 16.
Then the offense became stagnant and isolation basketball was in full effect.
Following a Patrick Patterson 3-point jumper with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter, OKC missed seven straight jumpers from the field, three of four free throws and provided one turnover but somehow continued to lead 71-64 heading into the fourth.
After a short 7-3 burst from OKC to begin the quarter, a 17-6 run on the back of a Ante Zizic, Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith scoring barrage leveled the scores at 84 points a-piece. With 4:35 remaining, PG13 delivered a beautiful assist to Abrines in the right corner for three to break the dead lock. From that point on, OKC closed on a 11-2 run to earn the victory.
While this victory was certainly ugly, OKC need all the W’s they can get while Russell Westbrook recovers from injury.
Lets take a look at five talking points following the Thunder’s latest win.