Jan 19, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket in opposition to Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell (25) through the second half at Rocket Area. Necessary Credit score: Ken Blaze-Imagn Pictures It’s irresponsible to converse in broad generalities when discussing a crew’s efficiency, nevertheless it’s occurred too many instances for it to be a fluke. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a tradition of taking part in mushy in massive video games.
Main the way in which in the NBA Sunday slate, the Cavs had been wanting to construct off their seven-game win streak by beating up on an injured Thunder crew in Oklahoma Metropolis. This wasn’t just a few position gamers out for the Thunder, both; they had been lacking Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, arguably the 2 greatest gamers on the Thunder.
For the third time in a row, the Thunder completely dominated the Cavs. Culturally, one thing is off with Cleveland once they face OKC. They play such a scared model of basketball, and put themselves behind the eight ball time and time once more. They fell behind 28-5 in this one and confirmed some grit to take the lead at instances in the second half, however misplaced it with a horrible 4th-quarter efficiency.
It wasn’t all on the Cavs; the refs missed some essential calls that flipped momentum in this one, essentially the most egregious being a goaltend by Chet Holmgren that become a 3 on the opposite finish for the Thunder.
Nonetheless, it will be past silly to blame this loss on the refs. Donovan Mitchell had a strong sport, however has continued to discover his jumper in massive video games for Cleveland, ending 0/6 from three. He and James Harden each completed with 20 factors apiece, however they mixed for 8 turnovers, permitting the Thunder’s protection to management the tempo from begin to end.
As soon as once more, the largest points for Cleveland got here from the entrance court docket. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen had been totally outphysicalled by Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. These two had been a +17 and +23, respectively, and that is precisely what you noticed whereas watching the sport.
They offered far more defensive rim safety for the Thunder and took over the sport late in the 4th quarter when it was wanted. Each Holmgren and Hartenstein took turns selecting on Jarrett Allen, and he seemed like he didn’t belong on the court docket due to it. Cleveland continues to battle with bodily facilities, and it confirmed up as a large problem in the 4th quarter of a really winnable sport.
One other flaw that has plagued the Cavs all season is their three-point protection. They’re twenty seventh in the NBA in opponent three-point %, and the Thunder took benefit of that weak spot, pulling down twenty-one from past the arc.
Cleveland had been one of many hottest groups in the league going into this one, however they went away from every little thing that made them the most well liked crew in the league. They settled for manner too many threes; the guards didn’t apply sufficient constant rim stress; and the bigs had been forgotten about as soon as OKC began pulling down some pictures.
I’ll by no means perceive how a crew can look so spectacular some nights, then instantly regress to the identical flawed model of themselves that we see each time an opponent is chippy with them. I’m unsure if there’s a repair for that sort of psychological problem with out having to reconstruct the roster in the offseason.
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