How the Cavs’ ‘Achilles’ Heel’ Doomed Them at the Thunder in OKC

The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ The seven-game winning streak was snapped on Sunday, as the Oklahoma City Thunder were humbled rejected by the hottest team in the NBA on their floor in a 121-113 victory. It’s the Cavs’ first loss since Jan. 30, before they took over James HardenKeon Ellis and Dennis Schroder to join Donovan Mitchell, Kenny Atkinsonand Co. at the trade deadline. After falling into a 28-5 hole in the first seven minutes due to a 10-turnover start, Cleveland battled back.

“The recovery was great,” Harden said after the game. “Don’t turn the ball over, shoot the rim, and then defensively, come back, stay in front of your man, contest the shot. We’re good enough. We just do it every night. This is a different team. Even without Shai (Gilgeus-Alexander), without J-Dub (Jalen and Williams), they’re still good defensively.”

“Probably the best defense this league has seen in a while,” Sam Merrill added. “Even with a couple of their leading scorers out, they still have so many good defenders. You just get that avalanche to start the game; the same thing happened last year. Obviously, we responded a lot better this time. We have to figure out the turnovers. But it’s not just the way they defend. Even without SGA and Jalen Williams, they moved the ball really well today, they moved the ball great.

The Thunder made 14 of 22 three-ball attempts in the first half, led by Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams. The Cavs got into a better rhythm in the second quarter and hung in there enough to wreak havoc with a defensive pressure led by Ellis and Schroder, and the halftime lead was just nine. Merrill thought the Cavs made simple plays counter the home team’s kick-off.

“I feel like we sped up a little bit to start. The gap probably wasn’t great to start with,” Merrill said. “Obviously you still want to play with tempo, but I think what you do is by getting in the right spots and not playing too fast.”

Cleveland fought to take the lead multiple times midway through the third quarter, but was unable to keep OKC at bay.

“We missed some easy looks, had some key rebounds on defense that we couldn’t get. I’m not really worried about that start,” Donovan Mitchell said. “The biggest part is when we got to that point where it was 67-67, it’s like, ‘Okay, how do we fix it from there?’

“I felt like we had a couple of bad offensive possessions that got them some transition buckets,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson added. “Our shooting quality wasn’t great. I probably blame the offense more than the defense. With this team, you can’t give them possession, whether it’s a turnover or a bad shot. They’re No. 1 in the league in transition efficiency. They lead to turnovers, which equals layups. And if you take bad shots, they go down and they score.”

Although Atkinson didn’t like some of those possessions in the second half, Cleveland still shot 48.3% from the field and outscored the Thunder 56-40 overall. The problem is that OKC initially won 31 points from a total of 17 giveaways. The Cavs got 20 points apiece from Mitchell, Merrill and Harden, but the bigs weren’t as involved in the Thunder’s frontcourt, likely due to the threat of the defensive lane.

The Cavs’ recurring problem comes at the wrong time

All too often, especially in the final period, the familiar question reared its head.

“I felt like they got some key offensive rebounds when we got stops,” Atkinson said. “We’ve got to clean that up. That’s our Achilles heel for me right now, defensive rebounds. They got some big ones at the end. Best team in the league, extra possession. It really hurts you.”

“I think we just have to work on our comeback,” Mitchell said. “That’s been a consistent theme. We’ve got to bounce back and give ourselves a chance to come out and get there. When we came back (from deficits), we just gave them extra chances. Some guys made shots, credit to them, they don’t always have to make shots. But also, it’s easier to make threes when you’re not focusing on it. I focus on that. that on film and be better.”

If you look at the statistics, the fight was even 44 a piece. However, the difference between Chet Holmgren’s 15 and Evan Mobley’s 2 stands out as a pain compared to the matchup of Jarrett Allen and Isaiah Hartenstein that favored the Wine and Gold (13-7).

It was the time when OKC kept life or key points in the game where the Cavs had to come up with basketball that hurt them. Gang rebounding should have been better in those situations, especially when Mobley and Allen were taking turns near the perimeter.

“We missed some open looks, which happens, but we couldn’t get the boards,” Mitchell said. “Hartenstein, I think we were one or tied the game, and they scored six straight points, two of them off Hartenstein floaters. Little things like that. Or, we’re playing great possession, the ball’s on the floor, JA gets a backdoor because we’re trying to move.

“It’s little things like that besides rebounds. When you’re against a team like that, every little thing matters so much. We’re not sitting here with our heads down. We’ve got things we can clean up, and we’re going to figure it out and get better.”

After all, there is no finger pointing afterwards a new version of Cleveland lost the first game.

“We did a lot of positive things,” Mitchell said. “We’re still thinking about things as a group. Even in that fourth quarter, we realize, ‘OK, is it me or Ev coming to set the screen? Is it ME? Is it Sam? Sam’s a roller, what are you doing?’ There are a lot of things to figure out. After all, we are not hanging on this. This is part of it. We didn’t want to go 29-0, but we still have things to clean up and fix.”

“Look, this is not an excuse, but this is a tough schedule: 3-on-4, noon game,” Atkinson said. “On the road, it makes it a little different. It is what it is, and we have to overcome it, but it’s a tough schedule game. I’m proud of the way the guys fought back and gave us a chance.”

While this lack hurts now, it could pay off in the end if Cleveland uses him the right way.

“That’s it, our sixth game together,” Harden added. “I think he’s bigger than them. I think it’s on us every night, no matter who we’re playing. A lot of things we’re still figuring out – rotations, lineups, all that stuff. When we get there and figure out how we’re playing and the lineups and all that, then we’re going to be a lot better. But they played a lot better. But we have a lot of credit for them today, a lot of honor.

“Games and reps. You look at this team. They’ve had postseason setbacks for a couple of years and they’re finally getting over it. All of this takes time, so these games are very valuable. We have to treat them like practice games because it’s our sixth game. Lesson learned. Watch film, get better and be ready for the next game.”