Live Thread: Cavs vs Thunder (#25BobbleHeadNight!)

Well, the greatest regular season point guard of our generation comes to town tonight, on the same night that the Cavs honor the greatest point guard in their history, MP25. After wandering the desert for the last two seasons in Houston, CP3 is ticking back upward with 17/7/5 splits while posting a 60 TS%, and leading the NBA in “clutch scoring.” The Tom Thibideau of players is certainly killing it, the Thunder had the best record in the Association in December, and Billy Donovan is the reigning coach of the month in the West. Also, Christ Paul bought his team custom suits for Christmas.

Meanwhile, the player the Cavs considered drafting in 2018 but didn’t, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is putting up 20/5/3 with a 55 TS%, and is also in the top ten in clutch scoring. Sexton, conversely is notching 18/3/2 with a 53 TS%. The Thunder are a surprising 19-15 and have a history of blowing up the Cavs in winter match-ups.

On the inactive front, OKC is only missing perma-injured Andrew Roberson. For the Cavs, Get ready for a thin bench. KPJ is out with an excused absence for “personal reasons” tonight, while Larry Nance Jr. will be missing one two weeks resting his sore knee. Guess the Cavs had threatened to win too many games lately. To fill in, Dean Wade and newly signed from his two-way contract, Tyler Cook, have been called up for this one.

Don’t look at this as a promotion for Cook, though it may mean a bit more money (I honestly have no idea). It probably means that he’ll be dumped before his contract becomes guaranteed on January 10th, and then possibly signed to a 10-day or two after that. The Cavs probably want to consider signing a different guy to another two way deal. Tonight might be Cook’s one big chance to make an impression, but after averaging 13/6/1 in the G-League in just 20 minutes a night, I wouldn’t count on it.

I fully expect the Cavs to get dissected by Chris Paul in this one, unless someone goes yolo. Maybe Dante Exum has a chance. Maybe Delly breaks out from three or gets under CP3’s skin. Maybe Kevin Love realizes the only way to improve his trade value is to starting giving a *bleep* against the player other teams seem much more interested in, Dino Gallinari (whose contract ends this year instead of 2022). Here’s hoping.