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After imploding in the final five minutes last night the Cavaliers take on the Thunder in the second game of a back-to-back at home. The Thunder have had two days off, having last played Wednesday in Memphis. They are 11-14 overall and 5-9 on the road. However, they had road wins over Minnesota and Atlanta last week, which is nothing to sneeze at. This is the first game between these teams.
The Thunder are similar to the Kings; great offense and bad defense. They rank 6th in points per game and 29th in opponents’ points per game. The Kings were 2nd in points and 23rd in scoring defense so I guess the Thunder can be described as Kings Lite.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is their superstar. The 6’6” point guard is averaging 31.1 points on 50% from the field. He also passes out 6 dimes per game. His 3-point shooting is not impressive at 32.4%. He takes 38% of his shots at the rim, 49% mid-range, and just 13% from deep. He calls to mind a Caris LeVert with a great mid-range shot. Or DeMar DeRozan with a better 3-point shot.
Shooting guard Josh Giddy is 6’8” and very skilled. He’s their second leading scorer at 14.6 ppg while adding 7.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. He’s only shooting 30.4% on 3’s so like SGA the key is to stay in front of him and make him take contested 3’s.
With two 6’1” starting guards the Cavs will have a huge height disadvantage against SGA and Giddy. The key will be to funnel them to the sidelines and baseline if possible and get help from a big when they drive. If they go around an elbow screen and come down the lane it will be a problem.
SF Luguentz Dort averages 14.2 points but is only hitting 40.5% of his shots. At 6’4” he’s short for a forward. He missed their last game and is listed as day-to-day. If he plays it might be good to double SGA and force him to put the ball in Dort’s hands.
Alek Pokusevski, 7’0”, 190 pounds (!) has started 17 games at center. He averages 9.3 points in 22 minutes. I haven’t seen him play. C Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, 6’8”, 242, starts at power forward. He was a 2nd round pick last year and averages 8.8 points.
The Thunder rank 22nd in effective field goal percentage, which is surprising because they are 6th in scoring. The answer is they play fast, ranking 1st in field goal attempts per game. They are 20th in 3-point percentage.
They prefer to go inside, ranking 3rd in points in the paint per game. They rank 5th in percentage of shots taken at the rim, so they understand they’re not a great outside shooting team. Surprisingly they don’t draw a lot of fouls, ranking 26th in free throws per possession.
I think the Cavs match up well defensively because they have the rim defenders in Allen and Mobley, so they should be able to take away or at least minimize what the Thunder does best.
Defensively the Thunder are second worst in the NBA, allowing 118 points per game. They’re also second worst in allowing points in the paint and they’re last in defensive rebounding percentage. The Cavs should be able to score inside and also get a lot of second chance points.
The Kings rank 25th in opponents’ free throws made per game, so they foul a lot. They don’t do anything well defensively that I can see, although they are average defending the 3-point shot.
Hopefully, Donovan Mitchell will be back and I believe that is the plan. Even if he is I expect LeVert to get a lot of minutes guarding SGA. He averages 31 points per game and nobody else averages 15, so he has to be the focal point of the Cavs’ defense.
If Donovan plays the Mitchell/SGA matchup will be something to watch - two guys averaging 29-31 points per game going head-to-head.
The Thunder have been off for two days while the Cavs played last night, so advantage OKC. But the Cavs are 11-2 at home while the Thunder are 5-9 on the road, so advantage Cavs. After last night’s brutal meltdown that left Bickerstaff frustrated and furious, the Cavs probably welcome the chance to get back on the horse. After a lackadaisical first quarter last night where they were outscored by 11 points (and lost by 11), I expect the Cavs to come out with more fire tonight.
The Thunder are similar to the Kings; great offense and bad defense. They rank 6th in points per game and 29th in opponents’ points per game. The Kings were 2nd in points and 23rd in scoring defense so I guess the Thunder can be described as Kings Lite.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is their superstar. The 6’6” point guard is averaging 31.1 points on 50% from the field. He also passes out 6 dimes per game. His 3-point shooting is not impressive at 32.4%. He takes 38% of his shots at the rim, 49% mid-range, and just 13% from deep. He calls to mind a Caris LeVert with a great mid-range shot. Or DeMar DeRozan with a better 3-point shot.
Shooting guard Josh Giddy is 6’8” and very skilled. He’s their second leading scorer at 14.6 ppg while adding 7.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. He’s only shooting 30.4% on 3’s so like SGA the key is to stay in front of him and make him take contested 3’s.
With two 6’1” starting guards the Cavs will have a huge height disadvantage against SGA and Giddy. The key will be to funnel them to the sidelines and baseline if possible and get help from a big when they drive. If they go around an elbow screen and come down the lane it will be a problem.
SF Luguentz Dort averages 14.2 points but is only hitting 40.5% of his shots. At 6’4” he’s short for a forward. He missed their last game and is listed as day-to-day. If he plays it might be good to double SGA and force him to put the ball in Dort’s hands.
Alek Pokusevski, 7’0”, 190 pounds (!) has started 17 games at center. He averages 9.3 points in 22 minutes. I haven’t seen him play. C Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, 6’8”, 242, starts at power forward. He was a 2nd round pick last year and averages 8.8 points.
The Thunder rank 22nd in effective field goal percentage, which is surprising because they are 6th in scoring. The answer is they play fast, ranking 1st in field goal attempts per game. They are 20th in 3-point percentage.
They prefer to go inside, ranking 3rd in points in the paint per game. They rank 5th in percentage of shots taken at the rim, so they understand they’re not a great outside shooting team. Surprisingly they don’t draw a lot of fouls, ranking 26th in free throws per possession.
I think the Cavs match up well defensively because they have the rim defenders in Allen and Mobley, so they should be able to take away or at least minimize what the Thunder does best.
Defensively the Thunder are second worst in the NBA, allowing 118 points per game. They’re also second worst in allowing points in the paint and they’re last in defensive rebounding percentage. The Cavs should be able to score inside and also get a lot of second chance points.
The Kings rank 25th in opponents’ free throws made per game, so they foul a lot. They don’t do anything well defensively that I can see, although they are average defending the 3-point shot.
Hopefully, Donovan Mitchell will be back and I believe that is the plan. Even if he is I expect LeVert to get a lot of minutes guarding SGA. He averages 31 points per game and nobody else averages 15, so he has to be the focal point of the Cavs’ defense.
If Donovan plays the Mitchell/SGA matchup will be something to watch - two guys averaging 29-31 points per game going head-to-head.
The Thunder have been off for two days while the Cavs played last night, so advantage OKC. But the Cavs are 11-2 at home while the Thunder are 5-9 on the road, so advantage Cavs. After last night’s brutal meltdown that left Bickerstaff frustrated and furious, the Cavs probably welcome the chance to get back on the horse. After a lackadaisical first quarter last night where they were outscored by 11 points (and lost by 11), I expect the Cavs to come out with more fire tonight.
