Recap: Oklahoma City 103, Cleveland 94 (Or Valiance in Defeat)

The Cavs, minus LeBron James, fell to the Thunder last night in a game that felt just out of reach for most of the second half. Despite a strong start that saw the Cavs jump out to a 26-18 first quarter, Cleveland lost the lead toward the end of the second when they went cold from the field, intimidated by the strong defensive play of Kendrick Perkins. The perimeter play of Westbrook, Lamb, and Jackson consistently led to good looks for the Thunder and by 1:31 remaining, OKC led by three. But the score seemed inconsequential when Kyrie Irving when down in a heap after challenging a Russell Westbrook 15-footer. On a slow, excruciating replay, it appeared that he had hyper-extended his right knee. After several minutes on the floor, Kyrie hobbled back to the locker room and Cavs Nation held their collective breath. A patented “damnit, Dion…” swish, and a Delly o-board and dish to Dion for corner three helped the Cavs finish the quarter tied at 47.

After a very long halftime, Kyrie came out to warm up for the second half. Yes, ladies and gentleman, “Daniel LaRusso’s going to fight!” Irving immediately canned a nifty floater off a Kevin Love feed, and we all exhaled.

Unfortunately, the Thunder spent the intermission realizing that they could dominate the Cavs around the basket and proceeded to do just that. Andre Roberson started off the barrage of aggressive, athletic play at the hoop when he just posterized Andy with one of the most in-your-face dunks of this young NBA season.

You got the feeling that whoever got into an offensive rhythm first was going to win this game. Unfortunately, it was OKC. Steven Adams started beating up Cleveland on the O-boards, and KLove battled to keep Cleveland close, but Cleveland could not score. They only notched one field goal (a Love three-pointer) in a six minute span during the mid third quarter. This included an ugly sequence when Delly missed a layup during a two-on-one, James Jones missed wide open threes, and Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka got the block party going against the Cavs big men. When the Thunder took a timeout at 6:22 left, the game was tied at 57. A minute later, the Thunder were up eight after a TT turnover, a Steven Adams block on Thompson, a Westbrook Layup, an “are you freaking kidding me?” Ibaka straight-on three, and a too-wide-open Anthony Morrow dagger trey.

I’ll mention that the big Thunder run came almost as soon as surprise starter, Matthew Dellavedova went to the bench. Dion can score, but the Cavs looked much less organized, especially on defense, when Delly sat. Tristan Thompson tried valiantly to stop the tide, but Westbrook started carving up the Cavs with penetration, and two more wide open threes (this time by Morrow and KD) extended the lead to 78-66 as the third closed.

Eight points off some poor three-point defense in the first 97 seconds of the fourth for the Thunder, and they were up 20. The Cavs didn’t have the depth to overcome that kind of deficit tonight, and the Thunder are too good to spot 20. But to their credit, Cleveland didn’t stop fighting. Matty-D never says die. He hit two straight threes to cut into the deficit, and Irving made a nifty layup for a Cavs 8-0 run before two back-breaking bad passes by Delly and a Westbrook missed-free-throw putback gave the Thunder an easy five points.

But down 15, Cleveland clawed back. Andy finally got it going on the pick-and-roll with Irving and Delly, and out of a timeout, Delly canned a much needed corner three to cut it to single digits. Crikey! He’s tough. He reminds me of his famous Australian counterpart, who’ll famously fight anyone, anywhere in the world.

Delly took the challenge and defended KD out on the perimeter, and the rest of the Cavs turned up their defensive intensity. Check out this Durant miss for an example of some young Rusell Crowe-esque defense by SuperDova (props to Harris on the double team). Delly hit Irving for another layup in this stretch, and Tristan Thompson started doing damage on the boards and getting to the line as the Cavs were in the bonus. Irving canned this ridiculous layup, and TT added a tip-in to cut the Thunder lead to three with two minutes left!

But the basketball Gods were not kind, and a Delly three was changed to a two-pointer in the timeout review (Come on, Delly. Don’t you know the long two is the most inefficient shot in the game!?). The now four-point deficit seemed ominous. The Thunder drew up a really nice play to get KD the ball. He and Westbrook did a right wing pick-and-roll, Irving and Delly switched, Durant caught the ball in the mid-post, burned Kyrie and dunked over Kevin Love who defended like an absolute weenus (the loose, flappy skin under your elbow) on the play.

Irving coughed it up on the next play, and with 1:17 to go, Durantula hit an “I’m Kevin freaking Durant, and it’s time to say ‘goodnight!'” turnaround from the free-throw-line to give the Thunder an eight point and ice the game.

Kyrie Irving played a tough game. He didn’t shoot fantastically (7-21) and seemed to continue you the trend of red-hot or chilly shooting games. I wanted to chastise him for this late one-on-three foray, but he  came close to a bucket on it. Irving just had an off shooting night and didn’t defend like he has been (Russell Westbrook and Reggie Jackson aren’t easy guards). I was just glad to see he was OK, and hope he doesn’t miss any time. His six assists and one turnover were solid with his 20 points.

Dion Waiters, on the other hand, had a classic trick-or-treat game. Dion had his shot mostly going, and his infuriating pull-ups were dropping. He finished 5-13, for 14 points but was -17 for the game. Yes, he had some jumpers, especially early to keep the Cavs in it, but had a hard time finishing around the Thunder bigs. (Who didn’t?)  But he did something to tick the coach off. Maybe it was this inane turnover in the late third, where Dion dribbled into four defenders in the left corner. Maybe it was the defense. Here, early in the fourth, he collapsed pointlessly for an another easy Anthony Morrow three. He was wiped out on a screen on the next Thunder points and wasn’t seen again for the rest of the game. This led to things like Joe Harris getting his weak-*** layup obliterated by KD with six minutes left in the fourth… Dion’s a guy who can score points in a losing effort.

Speaking of out-of-context plus/minus scores that really provide context, James Jones was awful in 14 minutes (-15). He couldn’t defend anyone and was 0-4 from the three. Cleveland really could have used a couple of the wide open ones he missed.

Shawn Marion was similarly ineffective in 21 minutes, though it didn’t show in the plus/minus. When he’s out there, teams are playing the Cavs five-on-four on defense. Marion can’t do anything to help the Cavs score. He was 1-6, including 0-3 from deep. His age is starting to show.

Matthew Dellavedova had one of his best games as a Cav, and was the Cavs most consistent player — maybe not in scoring but in controlling the game, executing the plan, hustling, and doing little things to win. He controlled the clocks at the ends of quarters, defended, drew offensive fouls, and never gave up. He was a leader. He went 4-6 from three, and chipped in 14 points, five boards, and four dimes. But Delly’s three turnovers were costly, especially cause they came when the Cavs had no margin for error. Delly also needs to stop being so afraid to finish inside. He needs to watch some Nash game film. (He was “Nashing” the ball all game when he drove from the wings — keeping his dribble alive endlessly as he looked for cutters). Matt needs to copy that Nash one-hander and that Irving dead-leg shot. He has to do something to become a threat to drive in the p-r. His reticence to even shoot his floater and/or attack inside is hurting his otherwise solid floor game.

Anderson Varejao‘s softness inside hurt the Cavs. I haven’t seen him take a charge in years at this point. He should have planted himself on that Roberson dunk. The Thunder bigs were converting his weak flip shots and finger rolls into blocks that led to points. Put a shoulder into someone, and get to the line, Andy! He went 4-11, and the Cavs could have really used more than his nine points.

Tristan Thompson was not soft. His activity inside and his hustle were huge factors in the Cavs keeping it close when they did, and getting close again late. He finished with 14 and 13 boards and two really big blocks. He picked up some turnovers, but they were mostly on BS moving screen calls and three second violations. He even had the short jumper going and hit a couple unexpected mid-rangers. His 4-8 from the field 6-8 from the line was solid, and he hit some big free-throws throughout the second half. Unfortunately, he had a shot or two too many blocked by Steven Adams and Ibaka, but it’s hard to get too irritated about sins of effort.

The Kevin Love dichotomy is maddening. On one hand, he’s a brilliant offensive player who can score from anywhere in the half-court. On another hand he folds like the French in World Wars when it comes to defending the basket. He doesn’t foul, doesn’t jump, and doesn’t take charges. He has gotten better about denying people position and using his body to keep people out of the paint, but once someone gets inside, Kevin Love has no aerial defenses. That being said… his offense is so crafty, and he’s a rebound machine. He finished with 18 and 16 boards. He was 5-13, but that’s not horrible against the vicious inside defense of the Thunder. He shot well from outside, and Cleveland really failed to get him the ball enough. Going through Love on the high post or the low post should have been more consistent options. Cleveland had a hard time getting him the ball though, and post offense seems to take the rest of the Cavs out of the game. It’s a lost art these days. But Kevin also seems to have lost some strength. I hope he regains it.

—

All in all, I take solace in a valiant effort. The Cavs lack of ability to contain the Thunder’s athletic guards, wings, and bigs hurt. The Cavs lack of size and finishing ability inside hurt too. Those are Cleveland’s two biggest weaknesses right now. The Thunder shook off some early bad shooting and put Cleveland away (though it was tougher than they thought). Russell Westbrook was transcendent with his 26 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. He’s the fastest player in the NBA now, and among the most explosive. Jackson, Morrow, and Lamb’s 33 combined points were the other big factor. It may end up that the early season injuries to Westbrook and Durant will help OKC in the long run. Lamb, especially, has blossomed now that he’s been able to play real NBA minutes. They ran 10 deep in this one and looked like a contender. They’re mean inside, KD and Russell are electric, and their bench is deadly. Hope Cleveland can beat them in the regular season rematch, but I’d rather not see them in the Finals.