With big Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder are wearing down the Cavs

Good dynamics Lightning It continued with great success against last night ClevelandSixth from the last eight games in style, at the end of a match that was completely controlled by his teammates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals).

OKC, which led in scoring for the better part of the first half, then furiously increased its defensive intensity on the way back from the locker room and took advantage of the Cavaliers, who gradually lost ground. impulse offensively, he was starved on 32% shooting for 22 points in this fourth quarter.

In the end, the Thunder finished quietly and scored 15 late-game points to quietly secure their 24th win of the season ahead of a likely Canadian All-Star game next month thanks to a highly effective offense: 53% shooting, including 56% from behind the arc (10/18 )!

deprived Donovan MitchellJust named an All-Star for the fifth time in six games, the Cavaliers were outscored by 31 points and 13 points, but could not counter a good offensive performance from their opponents on both ends of the court. helps from Darius Garland (but only 44%, including 28% behind the arc) and then continues to lose ground in the Eastern Conference’s Top 3.

WHAT TO REMEMBER

– Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Darius Garland. Of course, the match was not just a duel between the two starting leaders, but the latter two certainly made it more interesting. With 35 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals for the former, and 31 points, 13 assists and 4 steals for the latter, the face-off between the two best players in the meeting really fulfilled all its promises. Styles and it’s Canadian Thunder that helps better supporting cast More so than his Cavaliers counterpart.

– A well distributed mark for the Thunder. Outscored by 50 points in the paint and 30 points from the three-point line, OKC was able to effectively switch offensive phases perfectly, giving a surprisingly disinterested and lackluster opposing defense no respite, but faced the league’s second-best, 15th. “only” attack.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams and Aaron Wiggins. We were talking about A supporting cast On the Thunder side, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was effective around him, and these three players, the owners, embodied this idea perfectly. Versatile at will (42 points, 19 rebounds and just 7 assists), two sophomores and teenager It brought significant and decisive game volume as a relay for “SGA” and above all, they continue to put themselves as the cornerstones of this exciting Thunder project.

✅ Evan Mobley. A solid double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds (and 2 blocks) for the second-year interior who has been effective in the shadow of Darius Garland. Dominating near the rim (14 points), he converted two game-winning shots against a particularly “small-ball” interior on Oklahoma City’s side.

⛔️ Caris LeVert. The owner, in the No. 2 position to compensate for the absence of Cavaliers joker Donovan Mitchell, unfortunately remembered why “Spida” owns the All-Star Game with his poor performance: 2 points in 1/12. shots! An evening to quickly forget, even with 9 assists to limit the damage a bit.

NEXT

– Thunder (24-25): Reception of fighters from Monday to Tuesday night (02h).

– Riders (30-21): Reception of Clippers, from Sunday to Monday night (01h).