What We Learned: Cavs vs Thunder
The Cavs were able to win their sixth straight game after an impressive performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Cavs once again looked like a legitimate championship contender, which is something that couldn’t be said a couple weeks ago. Here’s what we learned.
• The Cavs can play defense. That’s not something you heard in the beginning of the season, is it? Didn’t think so. LeBron hit the nail on the head when he said after the game, “Offense comes and goes, but the defense has to stay.” That’s why the Cavs have looked so good in this six game winning streak. They held the Thunder to 39% shooting from the floor. You can’t ask for much more than that, can you?
• The Cavs offense is unstoppable when Kevin Love gets going. We saw what Love can do for us in big games. He finished the game with 19 points and 13 boards. He was 5-7 from deep. I don’t like when the Cavs use Love as an exclusive three point specialist, but when he’s shooting like he was Sunday you have to do it. He was able to stretch the floor and create open shots for everyone else. This shows us why it’s so important to get Love going early. He can give you games like this.
• Timofey Mozgov’s impact on the game can’t be seen in the box score. If you didn’t watch the game you wouldn’t think he had a good game at all. He only had 2 points and 6 boards in almost 30 minutes of play. But what you don’t see in the box score is how much better he makes the Cavs. The Cavs defense is so much better when he’s in there. Teams are afraid to drive on him, and rightfully so. We also saw that he wasn’t scared to challenge Kendrick Perkins. That’s something you love to see! If he’s not scared of Perkins, than there’s absolutely no one in the league he’s afraid of.
• We’re glad we traded away Dion Waiters. I love Dion Waiters. I was one of his biggest apologists when he was here, but you have to love how the trade worked out for the Cavs. J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert are way better fits for the Cavs. We were also able to acquire a draft pick that was traded away for Mozgov. This trade really threw us over the top and made us title contenders. Sorry Dion, it was the right move to make.
• LeBron is still better than Kevin Durant. Many fans have waited to see KD take the throne away from LeBron, but that doesn’t look like it’s happening soon. LeBron and KD finished with similar numbers. But LeBron dominated the game, KD didn’t. The Cavs won, the Thunder didn’t. You can’t judge who’s better just on one game, but that’s what we as fans do. KD hasn’t proved that he can control a game like LeBron can. Sunday was just a microcosm of that. The King won’t be dethroned in the foreseeable future.
The Cavs will look to extend their winning streak to seven games against the Pistons on Tuesday. It’s fun to be a Cavs fan right now. Let’s keep it going.
@B1G_JacksonF
