Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a season-high 43 points and made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 32.6 seconds remaining as the injury-depleted Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-112 on Monday night at Rocket Arena.
The win ended a two-game skid for Oklahoma City, which had lost its two previous road games by more than 20 points each. It came with three Thunder starters sidelined by long-term injuries, and it handed Cleveland its first home loss of the season. Oklahoma City improved to 5-2. Cleveland fell to 4-3.
Gilgeous-Alexander takes over late
The first half swung back and forth, with 15 lead changes and two ties. Oklahoma City closed the second quarter on a 16-6 run to lead 59-48 at halftime. A pair of Gilgeous-Alexander free throws pushed the margin to 69-55 with 9:26 left in the third quarter, the largest lead of the night.
Cleveland answered from long range. The Cavaliers made 9 of 17 shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter and opened the fourth quarter on an 18-9 run. The final period had eight ties and eight lead changes. Sam Merrill tied the game at 112 on a 3-pointer with about a minute left.
Gilgeous-Alexander settled it. With the score tied, he hit a step-back 3-pointer, his fourth of the night, to put Oklahoma City ahead 115-112. Merrill missed a perimeter shot from the corner at the other end, and Ajay Mitchell sank two free throws with 15.4 seconds remaining to close out the win.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s two-time reigning MVP, made 14 of 35 shots, the most attempts by any NBA player in the first two weeks of the season. He went 4 of 8 from 3-point range and 11 of 12 at the free-throw line, and he added eight assists and three rebounds in 38 minutes. He scored 13 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter, and he matched his highest scoring total in 17 career games against Cleveland.
Mitchell finished with 20 points for Oklahoma City. Isaiah Hartenstein pulled down 14 rebounds, and reserve Aday Mara added 10 points and nine rebounds. Donovan Mitchell and rookie Meleek Thomas led Cleveland with 17 points apiece. Thomas, making his first NBA start, also had five rebounds. Donovan Mitchell added 11 assists, Evan Mobley scored 16 points, and James Harden and Jarrett Allen each scored 14. Cleveland put seven players in double figures and still lost.
Three starters on the shelf
Oklahoma City has been reeling since it lost three starters to long-term injuries, as the Associated Press game story put it Monday night. Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace were both hurt on October 25 against the LA Clippers. Williams dislocated his left ankle and fractured his fibula. Wallace tore the labrum in his left shoulder. Both players have had surgery, and the team plans to reevaluate each of them before the end of the regular season. No return date has been set for either player.
Chet Holmgren is out as well. Holmgren has a small patellar tendon tear in his right knee and received a biological treatment for it last Friday. The Thunder said he will miss eight to 10 weeks. Veteran guard Alex Caruso was also inactive on Monday. The absences moved Kenrich Williams into the starting lineup, and Oklahoma City started Ajay Mitchell and Jaylin Williams alongside Gilgeous-Alexander and Hartenstein.
What the numbers say
The numbers show how a short-handed team won on the road, and where Cleveland can push back. Oklahoma City won the game at the free-throw line and on the glass. The Thunder made 21 of 23 free throws while Cleveland made 14 of 24. Oklahoma City took 98 shots to Cleveland’s 90 and outrebounded the Cavaliers 63-55, with a 50-30 edge in points in the paint, according to the official box score. For Oklahoma City, the win was its second since the three starters were hurt, and it showed the team can still control a game when its star carries the scoring load. For Cleveland, the loss was a missed chance at home against a weakened opponent, despite the more balanced scoring.
The rematch comes tonight in Oklahoma City
Cleveland does not have to wait long for another chance. The two teams meet again on Wednesday night at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, with tip-off set for 8 p.m. ET. The game airs on KSBI in the Oklahoma City market and on DAZN in the Cleveland market. The rematch closes a two-game set between the teams, and it is part of a 14-game slate across the league. The NBA played no games on Tuesday, Election Day, after all 30 teams were in action on Monday.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault expects Cleveland to adjust. “We’re going to need to be more diversified than we were (Monday), probably when we play Cleveland again next game,” Daigneault said, in the Reuters preview of the rematch. “I would imagine they’re going to go try to take it out of his hands more.” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said his team tried every coverage it had on Gilgeous-Alexander on Monday. “We tried to throw the kitchen sink at them,” Atkinson said. “But we never really found the solution.”
A short-handed team winning those margins on the road is difficult to repeat. Cleveland gets its chance to answer less than 48 hours after the first meeting ended.