Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
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What happened in the Cavs vs. Thunder game?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for January 9th, 2025. Coming up, the Cavs ended the Oklahoma City Thunders 15 game winning streak. So we got Andrew Schleck to talk about it. Wemby and Giannis based off. So we're going to talk about that, of course. And Paolo might be coming back for Orlando. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, guys. How's it going? A little bit of we had like a Super Bowl last.
Oh, my God. Game of the year. Game of the year.
Why was this game considered the game of the year?
Yes. You know, I got to say, Andrew Schlecht, Espera Henning, as I just jump right in because I'm too excited. The game had a very heavyweight feel to it, and it was nice. I loved that the officials let these guys play. Andrew, what about you? Just just your reaction to how the game felt like before you even talk about the game itself.
Yeah, for all the hand-wringing that's happened this season about style of play, whether the NBA is a good product or not, this is a great advertisement for the league to show all the general public because this was a great basketball game. Even though it was a high-scoring game, I thought the defense was superb from both teams. I thought the shot-making was just a little bit better. I thought it was physical. I thought there weren't too many threes. The possession battle was incredible, which is something that I always look for in every Thunder game. Both teams shot 90 shots. I mean, it was just a battle of two very good basketball teams that play the right way, that play great defense. This is it.
If you love basketball, you will have loved this game between the Thunder and Cavs.
And as you know, we were talking a little bit about about this game after the game. And, you know, the Cavs win 129, 122. It's the most points that the Thunder have given up this year. We were we were talking about just like it worked out that Cleveland actually won this game. And, you know, shout out to Joe Varden. He called this their last test.
They passed it with an A. I think it worked out great for them. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the other thing about this, and by the way, I want to say I apologize to the Cleveland Cavaliers because I have been pushing the, hey, we'll see what happens. We'll see what the regular season looks like. We'll see how they're supposed to look against a really good team. And to your point, this test really showed what they can look against a championship contender. I think they passed. And I think the way that they passed was really admirable because they were versatile. The way that they went at OKC with the two big lineups of Jared Allen and Evan Mobley, the way that Max Struce popped off in this game and was just incredible from three-point land.
How did the Cavs prepare to face the Thunder?
You had Darius Garland punching in. Donovan Mitchell didn't have a great game, but they still ended up doing well I think all of that goes to show you that the Cavs are the real deal. So Cleveland Cavaliers fans, apologies. You guys are the real deal. You guys are contenders. Officially, officially, officially, officially contenders in my books.
So we were wondering how they were going to guard Shea. And I don't know, Andrew. How did you feel about the defenses that they were throwing out there against Oklahoma City? Evan Mobley got some time on Shea. They went into the zone, and that really kind of bothered the Thunder. But do you feel like, again, it's 129-122, and it's funny to start with defense. But this is a game that was high scoring, but they had excellent defense at both ends. And I just think that that's a point I want to start with. So I don't know. What did you think about the Cavs guarding the Thunder?
Yeah, I think that the Cavs probably have like top three, if not the best shell defense in the NBA. I think that they're a lot different than the way the OKC defends, especially whenever they zone up. The Thunder had a lot of problems, especially in the third and early fourth with that zone defense. And they had trouble cracking it. And you have to give them a lot of credit. They just play together. And that really defines the Cavs, is that they play together on both ends. But defensively, it just really works. And a lot of it is about Jared Allen and Evan Mobley. Those guys are so difficult, especially the mobility. The mobility of Mobley. The mobility of Mobley is really a thing that changes... Everything for them. He's been incredible on both ends for them.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What happened in the Cavs vs. Thunder game?
0:07–0:46
2
Why was this game considered the game of the year?
0:46–2:54
3
How did the Cavs prepare to face the Thunder?
2:54–5:35
4
What are the implications of this game for the Cavs' season?
5:35–6:42
5
How did Giannis perform against Wemby?
6:42–9:55
6
What are the expectations for Chet Holmgren's return?
9:55–22:46