After the Cleveland Cavaliers won against the Oklahoma City Thunder last week, the opposite happened to them, but things were worse. The Cavs were beaten 134-114 and were dominated throughout the entire game. Only three players for the Cavs scored in double figures, while the Thunder had six, which included a 40-point game from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
After the game, Donovan Mitchell shared what he thought went wrong against the Thunder.
“They just set the tone,” Mitchell said via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “We didn’t come ready to play. Put this one on me. As a leader, you’ve got to set the tone. That’s twice now against this team that I haven’t been that. When your leader’s not doing it, it trickles down.”
Mitchell may come out in some games and not be aggressive while trying to get his teammates involved, but the Cavs need him to be the scorer that he is, especially against a team like the Thunder. These two are supposed to be the best in the conferences, and there’s a chance that they could see each other in the NBA Finals. For now, the Cavs need to go back and see where they went wrong and continue to build.
Cavs routed by Thunder
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
The Cavs never really had any true momentum in this game, and when they did, it felt like it was too late to make a run. The Thunder would just continue to pile the points on, and on the other side of the ball, they made it hard for the Cavs to stay in a rhythm.
“They imposed their will in every sense,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the game. “We knew it was coming. We knew their force was coming. That’s their identity. They imposed their identity. It was an avalanche, and we never responded.
“It felt like seven pit bulls out there. Not five. They were scratching, reaching — in a good sense. Their speed and athleticism, they kind of toppled us over. It was that simple. That’s their calling card. They’ve done it to a lot of teams. They dominated in every aspect.”
No matter what happened in the game, the Cavs should still be considered one of the better teams in the league, and things like this can happen throughout the course of an 82-game season. Though these may be outlier games, the Cavs may still need to prove that they can beat some of the best teams in the league.
