OKLAHOMA CITY – The Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder, a few rebuilding teams, drew Thursday’s game for the final offense. Does not look like that.
The Cavs won a quick, frenetic and free-flowing game, 129-102.
This is their second consecutive victory – the first finish line in more than a month. It is also the victory no. 19, which corresponds to the winning total of each of the previous two seasons. Cleveland has 21 more games to surpass that point.
“This is the way we want to play,” Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said after the win. “We want to diversify our transgression, and we want everyone to be involved. Our mission is to protect hard. We had to work through a few twists to get here, but the guys got stuck, they shopped. And we are not done yet, we are going to continue to get better as the season ends here. We are going to find that continuity, get everyone on the floor and then see what we look like when we are whole. ”
The Cavs stopped with San Antonio to start the week and completed 65 points in the first half. Oklahoma City also had little trouble. Two of the youngest teams from the NBA, who combined 126 points and 14, scored 3 points and raced up and down the floor in a rhythmic half with 13 assists and eight ties.
Who’s going to play defense first? That team would win.
It was the Cavs, who locked in at the end and increased their physicality early in the third quarter. Cleveland used an 11-0 speed to take control from the locker room, keeping the Thunder up to 14 points over the dominant 12-minute stretch and the young Thunder, who played without leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (plantar fasciitis) has. Al Horford (inactive for the rest of the season), Darius Bazley (shoulder strap) and Lu Dort (concussion protocol).
“It was about the effort, it was about being in the right places, it was just about running our system over and over again and not thinking about the opponent,” Bickerstaff said. ‘This is’ What do we do when we play well? ‘And I did not think we did it until the second half. The second quarter was OK, but the third quarter was a fantastic show from whom we want to be defensive. ”
The offense clicked all night. All five Cavs forwards scored in double figures. Collin Sexton took the lead with 27 points on 9-of-17 from the field and 9-of-10 from the foul line to deal with four assists and three rebounds. Darius Garland, who played a career night against the Spurs on Monday, jumped within 21 minutes with 21 points, five assists and three boards.
Kevin Love, still on a minute limit, scored a double double, with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes. Rookie Isaac Okoro scored 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Dean Wade got a new starting lineup because Larry Nance Jr. (illness) and Jarrett Allen (concussion) were still not on the team, adding 12 points.
Taurean Prince, who has given a spark since returning from a shoulder injury, finishes off the bench with 22 points.
This is the fourth time this season that the Cavs have had three points from 20 points in the same game. The last time was on February 21 in a loss against the Thunder.
The Cavs shot 51.1% from the field and 35.1% from outside the arc. They had a season of 35 strokes at 48 factories.
“It’s excellent,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s ball movement, it’s execution, it’s unselfish play.”
During a season full of injuries, with the loss of key pieces for long periods of time, questions were asked about the direction of the Cavs – and plan. One match does not determine success or failure. But Thursday – just the second time in franchise history to have won consecutive road races by 20 points or more (November 2017) – was further proof that the rebuild is working.
Birthday boy
Cedi Osman turns 26 on Thursday, serenaded by rookies with their own version of ‘Happy Birthday’. Osman, who was halted due to the inefficiency of the rotation, got his second DNP on the leaderboard.
Delly makes an impact
Matthew Dellavedova has shown since his debut last week why the Cavs lamented his long absence. Dellavedova served as a secondary ball dealer, helping to stabilize the Mercurial Bank. Dellavedova finished with two points, seven assists and six rebounds.
In his first four games of the season, Dellavedova had 22 assistants at no turnover.
Following
The Cavs return Saturday night against the Toronto Raptors for the first of a rugby game. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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New Cavs face masks for sale: Here you can buy Cleveland Cavaliers-themed face masks for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($ 14.99) and a 3-pack ($ 24.99). All NBA proceeds are donated to charity.
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