After playing four straight games that finished with a differential of just six points or less, the Thunder was finally able to exhale well before the final buzzer in a solid, secure road victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Game Flow
Speed kills. For the Thunder, it was the best of all weapons on Saturday night in Cleveland. After a bit of a sluggish start, the Thunder guards started drawing mismatches, attacking off the bounce and blowing right past Cavaliers defenders. To end the first quarter, the Thunder ripped off an 11-2 run that included four driving layups, including a final one by Dennis Schröder at the quarter’s end.
“Our defense wasn’t the greatest in the first half but then we started getting a little bit more aggressive, getting some stops, getting some rebounds,” Chris Paul said. “We just gradually made some separation.”
The team's tempo, driving and moving off the ball was devastating to a young Cavaliers squad and OKC’s defense did enough to keep the Cavaliers in check. The Thunder capped off the second quarter with a flourish too. Danilo Gallinari splashed a 3-pointer, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished off a 3-point play and then Paul dribbled speedily to the right elbow, stopped on a dime and buried a step-back jumper just before the halftime buzzer.
What was stable in the first half turned into chaos to begin the third quarter as the game ran a little ragged with off-balance possessions and a 7-0 Cleveland flurry. Gilgeous-Alexander and Gallinari answered and the Thunder used an 8-2 run to push the lead up to 17 as OKC’s defense applied extra pressure on Cleveland.
Gallinari hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game and Terrance Ferguson, who chipped in 13 points, hit a crucial triple, but seven third-quarter turnovers by the Thunder and six made Cleveland 3-pointers in the period kept this one close heading into the final frame.
Decisive Moments
Cleveland’s Cedi Osman was one of the main scoring threats for Cleveland in the second half, which used an 11-2 early fourth quarter run to get back into the game. When Osman converted on a 3-point play to cut OKC’s lead to 93-85, it was starting to get tight inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Cold off the bench, replacing Nerlens Noel who had just gone down with a left ankle sprain, Mike Muscala took one dribble in for an open top of the key 3-pointer off a pass from Chris Paul and buried it.
“I’m really grateful for the coaching staff here. The guys who aren’t necessarily in the rotation or playing minutes, they do a good job of getting everybody shots up, staying active, staying in shape,” said Muscala. “I’m really grateful for that with this organization.”
Second-year guard Hamidou Diallo then made a trio of hustle plays that changed the game completely. First he forced a travel on Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, then after Muscala kept an offensive board alive, Diallo snatched it up and attacked the paint, getting fouled. Two possessions later, Diallo lurked in the backcourt after an OKC miss and surprised Cleveland with an interception of a flat outlet pass. Diallo took the ball and with no resistance in sight, mercilessly rocked the rim with a monster one-handed dunk.
“Sick,” Paul reviewed of the steal. “They were going on a little run right there. Coach (Donovan) was about ready to call a timeout, and Hami got the steal and it was a momentum breaker.”
“That’s just a feel for the game and what I like to do,” Diallo said sheepishly. “It’s heartbreaking getting a steal like that in the backcourt.”
The Thunder’s lead ran up to 105-90 with 6:48 to go shortly after that sequence, and it never dipped below double digits the rest of the way.
Play of the Game
Back in his home state of Ohio, rookie Darius Bazley had a little extra pep in his step all night, but particularly in the first half when he scored all nine of his points in the game. He also brought it on the defensive end of the floor, where he snapped up seven rebounds and blocked a driving layup attempt by Cavs forward Kevin Love.
Bazley grabbed the loose ball and kicked it up ahead where Paul and Schröder found themselves on the wing and in the left corner with only one defender between them. Schröder dished from the corner up the sideline to Paul, who immediately zipped the ball right back to the corner, freezing the defender and leaving Schröder open to bury a 3-pointer.
Stat of the Night52
Bench points for the Thunder on the night, led by Dennis Schröder who led all Thunder scorers with 22 points on an efficient 9-for-15 shooting including a 2-for-3 mark from behind the arc. That continues some hyper-efficient shooting from Schröder from behind the arc on the road, where he’s shooting nearly 43 percent. With Schröder, Diallo, Bazley, Noel and others, the Thunder’s second group tries to play with more speed and tempo and it managed that again tonight.
“We try to bring a different energy to the game,” said Diallo.
Quotes of the Night
“On and off the court I feel like we’ve gotten really close and for me it’s kind of been bouncing around last year to different teams. This has been really special for me.” – Mike Muscala
“We just came out and we stuck to the gameplan. That’s a team that’s going to fight. They didn’t give up. We just kept applying pressure and we just kept doing what we know we’re capable of doing.”– Hamidou Diallo
Looking Ahead
The Thunder takes off for Philadelphia overnight where the team will have the day off but spend it together. The players will be taking in the Philadelphia Eagles-Seattle Seahawks NFL playoff game on Sunday afternoon before getting mentally and physically prepared for Monday night’s battle against the Philadelphia 76ers.