It’s a rematch from last week’s epic showdown of conference-leading teams. Can the Oklahoma City Thunder get their revenge, or will the Cleveland Cavaliers sweep the season series?

Catch the game tomorrow at 8:30 AM, Manila time.

AWAY: Cleveland Cavaliers (34-5, 14-3 AWAY)

Projected starting five:

  • Darius Garland
  • Donovan Mitchell
  • Isaac Okoro
  • Evan Mobley
  • Jarrett Allen

The Cavaliers made a quick return to the win column. After getting their 12-game winning streak snapped by the Indiana Pacers on Monday, 108-93, they got them back quickly in a back-to-back matchup on Wednesday, 127-117.

Included in the said streak was the huge, 129-122 victory over the Thunder last January 9th, 129-122, in what was a highly anticipated battle given both have a combined 62-9 record and 25 straight wins at that time.

Seven Cavaliers scored in double figures, with twin towers Jarrett Allen (25 pts, 11 rebs) and Evan Mobley (21 pts, 10 rebs) each posting double-doubles, while also combining for 13 assists. Max Strus (17 pts, 5 rebs) and Ty Jerome (15 pts) also came off the bench to put up decent offense – the latter also did it across 12 quality minutes.

One glaring stat in the contest, however, is Cavs top scorer Donovan Mitchell shooting an abysmal 3-for-16 from the floor. He couldn’t find any rhythm and may now be fully aware of OKC’s stingy defense. We’ll see if he can bounce back from that.

Nevertheless, Cleveland still owns the highest offensive rating in the league, and ranks second in scoring at 122.3 points per game.

Advertisement

HOME: Oklahoma City Thunder (33-6, 17-2, HOME)

Projected starting five:

  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
  • Cason Wallace
  • Lu Dort
  • Jalen Williams
  • Isaiah Hartenstein

The Thunder are back to dominating opponents following that massive, streak-snapping defeat to the Cavs. They have won three in a row, scoring 126.7 PPG and only allowing an impressive 99.3 points on 38.8% shooting in that span.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 pts) and Jalen Williams (25 pts, 9 ast) both did well in that loss to the Cavs last week, with Isaiah Hartenstein (18 pts, 11 rebs) even flirting with a triple-double. The hounding against Mitchell was solid too. Hovering over all of that, though, was their inability to contain Cleveland’s bigs, which opened up a ton of opportunities for the opposition.

Offensively, SGA, Williams, and the rest will be ready to make their presence felt again. Meanwhile, they’ll hope to have the same success on Mitchell. If they repeat that, and improve on containing Allen and Mobley, even for just a bit, they should be in good shape for a W.

In an interesting contrast to Cleveland, OKC’s is first in defensive rating and second in points allowed per game this season (103.4 PAPG).

PICKS:

Spread: Thunder (-2.5)

Over/Under: Over (232)

Advertisement