OKC Thunder take down Cleveland to claim fourth seed – 3 takeaways

The OKC Thunder capture a winnable game versus Cleveland moving into sole possession of fourth in the west. Here’s the three takeaways from the game.

Facing a team clearly on a different seasonal path offers its own set of unique challenges. Specifically this year, because the west is chock full of teams playing well and all vying to capture playoff seeds. So, when a lottery team is on tap it should seemingly offer an easy victory. Ahh, but therein lies the rub. The other natural response is to not be as prepared mentally. How else do you explain all the upsets this season?

So with the Cavaliers ascending on the Peake the Thunder could be forgiven for a less than stellar opening frame. Cleveland had jumped out to a 28-21 first quarter lead with the Thunder cold as ice from the field.  Fortunately, the sting from the loss versus the Nuggets was also top of mind, so the squad refocused their efforts and by the time halftime arrived the teams were all tied up.

The second half was another story completely as the Thunder won both quarters including building an 11 point advantage in the third quarter.

Moreover, the evidence of Russell Westbrook‘s post Denver loss soul searching translated into results as he systematically captained his crew toward victory.

By game end OKC had another ‘W’ to move them into sole possession of the fourth seed. More importantly, OKC is only a half game behind the Nuggets for third and one game behind the top seeded Warriors and Clippers.

The win didn’t occur based on a stellar offensive performance especially from deep as OKC shot a feeble 22.2 percent from the perimeter. The team did however focus on their top rated defense which is the one thing which will keep the Thunder in every game if they stick to those principles.

With a win of this nature, the three takeaways take on a different form today.