To open the game, Darius Garland scored on a driving finger roll layup 27 seconds into the first quarter.
The 2-0 start marked the first — and only — lead change of the entire game.
The Cleveland Cavaliers gained a lead they never relinquished for the rest of the night in a 110-102 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite not letting the Cavaliers’ lead balloon to 20-plus points, the closest the Thunder got was a tie.
Even though they never took the lead, the Thunder made valiant efforts to steal a road game against the league-best home record Cavaliers. Especially in the fourth quarter, where they opened on a 17-7 run and even tied the game 89-89 at one point.
It felt like momentum was finally swinging the Thunder’s way and that they were going to somehow pull this upset win behind the unlikely outside shooting from Aleksej Pokusevski and Isaiah Joe.
After the Thunder quieted the home crowd with the tie, the Cavaliers finished the game on a 21-13 in the final seven minutes.
Alas, the Thunder dropped their second consecutive game against a Cavaliers squad missing Donovan Mitchell and Kevin Love.
For the Cavaliers, Caris LeVert — who started in place of Mitchell — made up for his scoring absence with 22 points on 9-of-22 shooting. Evan Mobley finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Jarrett Allen also collected a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.