OKC Thunder make it 5 in a row with defeat of Cavaliers – grades
Oklahoma City Thunder. CHRIS PAUL. B. . PG
An off shooting night from Chris Paul although Mr. Clutch wasn’t required in this match due to the early lead.
Paul was uncharacteristically off from every section of the hardwood tonight shooting 3 of 9 from the field, 0 of 4 from deep and even missed one of his two free throws.
His scoring wasn’t needed on this night and he still managed to affect the game in other ways with 10 assists and four rebounds to add to his seven points.
Billy Donovan took advantage of the early lead limiting Paul’s minutes to 30 which was wise given their next opponent is the Philadelphia 76ers who are already talking about the absolute need to beat OKC.
G/F. Oklahoma City Thunder. SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER. A-.
Much like Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t need to have an over the top effort given the full team effort. His size was a clear advantage over the more diminutive guards on the Cavaliers.
SGA was able to get pretty much whatever he wanted and as per usual let the game dictate his scoring choices. Although his perimeter shot was off (0 of 3) he shot a highly efficient 9 of 14 for 20 points with two of those coming at the line. We can quibble over the lack of his free throws and the interesting lack of whistle for the Canadian but since the game never required him to get overly aggressive it’s a moot point.
In addition to his scoring, Gilgeous-Alexander pulled down seven rebounds, snared two steals and led the starting unit with a positive differential of plus 16.
One oddity, SGA failed to deliver a single assist which is strange especially when the Thunder produced 24 assists overall. I’d like to see the count of the “hockey assist” as his efforts probably produced several in that category.