Cavs Strike Thunder: Cleveland Tops West's Elite in Instant Classic

Daniel Waddleton

Jan 9, 2025

---

THE MOST ANTICPATED regular season game of the season lived up the hype and then some on Wednesday night.

The Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (30-5) traveled up north to face the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers (31-4) in a matchup that had everybody buzzing.

Not only did these teams boast the two best records in the NBA, but they also rank first and second in net rating (Thunder 11.6, Cavaliers 11.3) and entered the game riding the leagues two longest active win streaks (Thunder 15, Cavaliers 10).

And like I said, the game lived up to the hype. The Cavaliers narrowly edged out the Thunder 129-122 in a thrilling contest that featured 30 lead changes and eight ties. Neither team ever built a double-digit lead, and the games frenetic yet highly executed nature made it impossible to look away.

Donovan Mitchell’s post-game comments perfectly encapsulated the Cavaliers growth this season, after an off-season filled with speculation about whether they needed to shake up their core to reach the next level:

"It just speaks to our growth, I told everybody after the game, as a unit, we don't win this game last year. ... Everybody that came in did something positive to affect the game, whether it was scoring, rebounding, defending, whatever it may be. That's a team win, and that's what it's going to take for us to be the team we want to be" - Donavan Mitchell

For a team that, over the past two seasons, often felt like a collection of talented individuals rather than a cohesive unit, the transformation under head coach Kenny Atkinson cannot be overstated. The Cavaliers leap from 16th in offensive rating last season to first this season -- with largely the same roster -- is no accident. By fully committing to Atkinson’s system, the team has found a way to maximize its star players strengths while fostering a selfless, team-first mentality that allows everyone to shine.

In a game where Donovan Mitchell scores just 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting, the 2023-24 Cavaliers wouldn’t have stood a chance. Last night, they managed to defeat a 70-win paced Thunder team in that scenario.

Let’s take a deep dive into how it happened, the stars of the game for both teams, and discuss adjustments both teams can make if say, we see this matchup in June?

FROM THE OPENING tip, it was vintage Kenny Atkinson Cavaliers -- everything purposeful, every movement deliberate. The first set of the game, Dean Wade set a screen for Darius Garland, triggering a switch, then rolled slowly toward the basket as Jarrett Allen came up to set a 1-5 pick-and-roll. Just as Allen is setting the screen and Cason Wallace engages in the action, Wade sprints to the corner. Garland slips the pocket pass to Allen, who is tagged by Wallace before finding Wade wide open in the corner for a game-opening triple.

Scoring against Cleveland in the halfcourt is no easy task. With two bigs who can both switch and protect the rim, they cover up a lot even with two offensive orientated guards at the point of attack. As expected, OKC leaned into one of their strengths: turning good defense into quick offense. All night, the Thunder emphasized pushing the pace and getting out in transition to generate easier scoring opportunities.

As mentioned earlier, Donovan Mitchell struggled in this contest. While some of it just came down to missed shots he typically makes, Oklahoma City’s defense also deserves significant credit. Lu Dort, Mitchell’s primary matchup, limited him to just 1-for-7 shooting when he was the closest defender.

Dort’s unique combination of size, strength, and quickness makes him a vital piece of OKC’s top-ranked defense, as he can match up effectively against almost any star in isolation.

Because of this, teams will naturally call screens to try to free up their stars, but that strategy plays right into OKC’s hands. The Thunder excel at blitzing the pick-and-roll, tagging the roller and then leverage their elite ability to scramble and recover behind the play with their plethora of versatile and active defenders.

The difference is most NBA teams today opt for a single big surrounded by guards and wings, but Cleveland goes against the grain with their twin towers approach. Under Kenny Atkinson, Mobley and Allen have developed impressive chemistry and great court mapping awareness, allowing them to exploit defenses like OKC’s that try to put the decisions in the screeners hands.

When the Thunder blitzed, Cleveland’s big-to-big passing consistently dismantled the scramble defense, creating easy dunks and high-percentage opportunities. This dynamic presented a challenge for OKC’s typically dominant defense, that is much more used to closing out on three's from this position opposed to rim attempts.

It wasn't just against blitzes either, here's an example when OKC went zone.

And here's an example of the quick read when a man was down behind the play.

This is exactly the stuff Cleveland lacked during their previous seasons of playoff failure. In the past, when teams like the Knicks in 2023 focused on neutralizing Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell, the Cavaliers bigs struggled to coexist and capitalize on advantages. Fast forward to now, and the improvement in playmaking and chemistry between Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen is worlds above where it once was.

Even outside of blitz situations, the Cavaliers found ways to get to this read. On this play, Isaiah Hartenstein played Garland to a drop in pick and roll, but Garland’s speed off the screen left Lu Dort unable to stay attached. Hartenstein is focused on the potential lob to Allen, and essentially passed off rim protection duties to Jalen Williams, who rotated over opting to live with a Mobley three. Instead, Mobley cut straight down the baseline for an easy finish.

Finishing at the rim was critical for Cleveland in this game, as they tallied an impressive 60 points in the paint. This success was largely due to their frontcourt’s ability to convert opportunities, particularly Allen, who consistently capped possessions with strong finishes.

For example, on this blitz, Allen received the pass as the roll man and found himself tagged by Wallace. Rather than looking for the open man, Allen decisively finished the play himself. His ability to finish possessions when he's around the rim has been a key factor in his 70% shooting from the field this season and a major reason why Cleveland boasts the league’s top-ranked half-court offense.

I love this sequence from Cleveland. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks to hunt Jarrett Allen on a switch, and the Cavs essentially say, “Fine, but you better make it”. When Allen forces the miss, Cleveland immediately pushes the ball up the floor in transition, taking advantage of the cross-match. Allen, far too big and strong for Gilgeous-Alexander to handle, finishes the play with an emphatic slam.

And how about Evan Mobley's strength in year four? The days of him getting bullied in the playoffs by more physical players is long gone. One two different sequences tonight, he simply overpowered Hartenstein near the rim, finishing and-one's that showcased just how much stronger and more confident he’s become.

In my final shoutout for Cleveland's frontcourt, Jarrett Allen deserves one more round of applause for his work on the offensive glass. He grabbed seven offensive rebounds, seemingly overwhelming OKC’s frontcourt with relentless energy, particularly in the second half. Here's an example below.

I’m very curious to see how the Thunder’s double-big lineups look once Chet Holmgren returns. The only two losses Oklahoma City’s has since December 1st have come against teams with massive frontcourts -- Milwaukee and Cleveland -- where similar challenges emerged.

Holmgren has experience playing the four at Gonzaga, and with his guard-like skills and shooting ability at 7'1, he theoretically fits well alongside Hartenstein in certain lineups. Having the option to deploy a double-big lineup for specific playoff matchups will be a critical weapon for the Thunder if they are going to reach their goals this season.

Even if the double-big lineup doesn’t reach its full potential, just having another quality center to spell Hartenstein will be a massive benefit. Hartenstein, one of the league’s most active big men on the glass, looked gassed after battling Cleveland’s big frontcourt for over 30 minutes. Reducing his minutes while maintaining high energy throughout the game -- think Dallas Lively-Gafford platoon -- could make a significant difference in his impact for the Thunder in the postseason.

NOW WE NEED to talk about Darius Garland, who is finally blossoming into the player we’ve all envisioned through years of enticing flashes.

Part of Garland’s leap this season can undoubtedly be attributed to better health -- unlike last year, he’s not returning from a broken jaw that clearly affected his second half of the year. Yet credit also should go to Atkinson, who has reshaped the Cavaliers offense to better leverage Garland’s strengths as a dynamic on-ball creator while coexisting with another ball-dominant guard.

According to Thinking Basketball’s database, Garland’s offensive load has increased by five possessions per 100 compared to last season, ranking in the 90th percentile for year-over-year changes. Conversely, Donovan Mitchell’s load has decreased by 3.3 possessions. This shift has allowed Garland to thrive, with his efficiency and impact numbers soaring, while Mitchell’s refined and seasoned offensive game remains highly effective even with a slightly reduced role.

Garland’s game has always been heavily predicated on confidence and rhythm, and right now, he’s playing with an abundance of both. Even when he doesn’t start with the ball, Atkinson’s offense frequently brings him into the action mid-possession. This strategic use of both Garland and Mitchell as ball-handlers keeps defenses guessing and helps shift attention away from the Cavs ultimate scoring intentions.

It seems obvious and simple to do this, but before Atkinson's arrival, it was more “your turn, my turn” than playing off each other. Here are two examples of this:

Also, watch in this second clip how Mobley makes a subtle adjustment by cutting down the baseline instead of spacing to the corner. This movement occupies Williams, the strongside help defender on the play, so he can't cut off Garland's driving lane. It’s a small detail but incredibly effective, something a team like the Grizzlies excel at, and the Cavs are doing as well in this Atkinson era.

Donovan Mitchell, despite a tough defensive assignment and an off shooting night, still managed to deliver when his team needed him most in key stretches, a hallmark of a great player. Two of my favorite plays from him in this game highlight his ability to make an impact beyond scoring, something he has gotten so much better at under Atkinson.

On the first play, Mitchell avoids the blitz by rejecting the screen with a quick in-and-out dribble. He then uses his signature scoop gather to navigate traffic in the lane before delivering a pinpoint pass to Caris LeVert for the corner triple.

On the second play, Mitchell splits the screen to evade the trap and again finds LeVert in the corner for another three. These two crafty plays were savvy by the veteran, not allowing the Thunder to take him completely out of the game with the trapping when they needed him to make a play.

IT'S NOT MEANT to be forgotten that OKC played very well in this game through the Cleveland praise. As we mentioned earlier, this contest was as close as it gets and truly could have gone either way. I thought OKC's offense hummed for a majority of the night, especially in the third quarter.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his MVP-caliber season with another stellar performance, finishing with 31 points with his typical elite shot-making. I don't need to provide clips of some of his isolation shots, you've seen them before, he's an unreal offensive player.

Jalen Williams was my favorite Thunder player tonight. As expected, he did a little bit of everything, showcasing why he’s one of the league's most versatile players. Throughout my Thunder clips I want to highlight there is a common theme, a lot of Williams.

In the first, Williams slides over as a weakside rim protector to reject Mobley’s shot. We talked all the time on this blog about how valuable it is for defenses to have non-centers who can step in and protect the rim, and Williams is a prime example of this.

In another play, Williams once again shows off his weakside rim protection by deterring one of the league’s best downhill drivers in Mitchell at the basket. But his value doesn’t stop there -- he turns that defense into offense, driving into the paint and dishing to a teammate in the dunker’s spot for an easy bucket.

Isaiah Hartenstein also deserves credit for his strong offensive game. I particularly liked how OKC’s offense diversified in the second half, moving beyond just SGA isolations and incorporating Hartenstein and his passing more. The two-man game between Hartenstein and Williams is a staple of the second unit, and it becomes even more effective with SGA on the floor, leveraging his gravity shifting the defense.

That push shot from Hartenstein has also become a reliable release valve for OKC’s offense, and something you will see them end up with at the end of many possessions.

Here’s a nice wrinkle just a few possessions later between Hartenstein and Williams in what looks like it's leading to the same action.

The Thunder love the ghost screen actions featuring Isaiah Joe, one of the league’s elite three-point shooters. They generate a variety of looks from this action (from my notes they ran this four times last night). My favorite example was a secondary action off the ghost screen, between Joe and Hartenstein, opened up by SGA’s gravity.

Hartenstein added another wrinkle to by faking the handoff and driving downhill when Allen started to overplay. He then found a cutting Cason Wallace in the dunker’s spot for an easy finish. It’s worth noting that no team in the NBA scores more points from their guards in the dunker’s spot than the Thunder, so this is a familiar look.

WHEN THE GAME got to winning time in the fourth quarter, Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome was awesome. He’s been such an unsung hero for this team as another on ball-offensive creator and is very familiar in Atkinsons system from their time shared in Golden State.

Right here he turns defense into offense, making a play on both ends in a big moment.

This sequence coming up perfectly encapsulates the game. The Cavaliers leaned heavily on a zone defense in the fourth quarter after playing almost exclusively man through the first three. Over 12 zone possessions in the fourth, they allowed just eight points, forced three turnovers, and kept OKC’s high-powered offense off balance.

On this particular possession, Cleveland played excellent defense, which led to yet another great Jarrett Allen play near the rim. On the other end, Darius Garland got right into the paint and delivered a pinpoint pass to Donovan Mitchell. Again, despite his struggles throughout the game, Mitchell delivered when it mattered most drilling what felt like a back-breaking three.

Garland is just oozing with confidence right now. In a key moment late in the game, he took one of the league’s best guard-on-guard defenders to school, sealing the win with this finish. Plays like this highlight Garland’s growth, he wasn’t making these plays last year, and Cleveland wasn’t winning games like this last year. Welcome back to the All-Star Game, DG.

At the end of the day, this felt more like an awesome win for Cleveland than an alarming loss for OKC. The Thunder executed their game plan for most of the night, and much of what they wanted to do offensively worked.

The difference came down to Kenny Atkinson’s ability to throw subtle adjustments at the Thunder in key moments, creating timely advantages. Whether it was a well-timed double on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to force a turnover, or stretches of zone defense to disrupt OKC’s rhythm, Atkinson had enough of these small wins to come away the victor in what was a game of inches.

Both these teams are inner circle championship contenders, without a doubt.