In the grand scheme, Jan. 20 wasn’t very long ago but, for the the Cleveland Cavaliers, much has changed over the last few weeks. On that particular day, the Cavs suffered an embarrassing, 24-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even worse, Cleveland reached a defensive low by allowing 148 points.
That particular performance inspired trolling from former Thunder and current Knicks big man Enes Kanter and, famously, pushed then-Cavs guard Isaiah Thomas to indicate that the Cavs didn’t “trust each other.” Of course, the Cavs would eventually blow things up with a memorable trade deadline.
Since then, Cleveland appears headed in the right direction behind inspired play from LeBron James, a breath of fresh air from their deadline acquisitions, and a rejuvenated group of players who were already on the team. The combination of improvement for Cleveland, regression for Oklahoma City, and the brilliance James himself came together on Tuesday evening in a performance that ended with the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions getting revenge.
On the road in Oklahoma City, the Cavs produced a memorable offensive performance and, while the defense wasn’t necessarily anything to write home about, it was miles better than what we saw the last time the two teams squared off. This ended in a a 120-112 victory to “even the score” in the season series between the two playoff-bound teams.
James was, as one would expect, the best player on the floor, finishing with 37 points (on 14-for-23 shooting), eight rebounds and eight assists. He was flanked by J.R. Smith, who converted five three-pointers in the first half on the way to 18 points, and a strong showing from Cleveland’s newcomers.
The trio of Jordan Clarkson (14 points, four assists), Rodney Hood (14 points) and Larry Nance Jr. (13 points, nine rebounds, three blocks) performed admirably off the bench. While George Hill had modest offensive numbers, his quality defense work aided in slowing Russell Westbrook to the extent Westbrook can be contained, as the former MVP had 21 points and 12 assists on the evening.
Of course, caveats apply to this particular performance for the Cavaliers, just as they did in Boston on Sunday. Cleveland’s defense is still a work in progress and, no matter the talent level, they can’t be expected to light up the scoreboard quite in this fashion offensively on a nightly basis. In the same breath, the stark contrast between that fateful night in Ohio in mid-January and this particular showing on the road in Oklahoma City can’t be ignored, and things are suddenly going quite well for LeBron and company.
