Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

NBA Power Rankings week 14: OKC Thunder among the ‘road warriors’

By Tamberlyn Richardson

JANUARY 20: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball during the game against the Houston Rockets (Photo by Cato Cataldo/NBAE via Getty Images)
JANUARY 20: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball during the game against the Houston Rockets (Photo by Cato Cataldo/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 31
Next
OKC Thunder, NBA Power Rankings Week 14
OKC Thunder, NBA Power Rankings Week 14 JANUARY 20: Larry Nance Jr. #22 of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against the New York Knicks (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

. 12-34. Previous: 30th. Cleveland Cavaliers. 30. team. 156

Cleveland Cavaliers:

Offense: (105.7) 23rd
Defense: (114.9) 29th
Net: ( minus -9.2) 30th

Results Week 14: (0-3): Lost vs. Knicks: 86-106, Wizards: 112-124, Bulls: 106-118
Games Week 15: (4 games) Mon at Pistons | Tues vs. Pelicans | Thurs vs. Raptors | Sat vs Warriors

The issue for the Cavaliers is getting through four quarters without coughing up big leads. They are able to produce three solid frames but struggle to do so consistently through 48 minutes.

Case in point- in the three losses of week 14, the Cavaliers gave up quarters of 30-14 to the Knicks, a 32-25 quarter to the Wizards and a 40-19 quarter to the Bulls. The common denominator? All three were in the third quarter.

That should be the emphasis heading into week 14 to come out of the break with a steely focus on defense.

Larry Nance Jr. is offering one of the positives for the club. After missing six games he’s returned to action in the past six and produced double-double efforts in each of his last three games averaging 16.3 points and 11.0 rebounds.

That makes three different big men on the team who frequently hit the mark as both Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson often reach the same benchmarks.

Home/Thunder News