Cavaliers keep things close, fall late to Thunder
The Cleveland Cavaliers were able to keep thiings close late, but still found themselves on the wrong end of the final score in Oklahoma City.
Make that five straight losses for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Their latest begin a 109-103 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Coming to this game there was the possibly that the game could end up being lopsided. The Thunder were one of the better teams the Cavaliers have played over the past few games. Considering Cleveland was blown out by the last-place Golden State Warriors on Saturday, things could have gotten ugly.
The Cavs had more assists than the Thunder (31-21). It is a bit surprising before realizing that both teams are similar in team assist numbers this season. After Wednesday’s game Cleveland is ahead of Oklahoma City by 0.2.
There are two clear areas that Oklahoma City was clearly superior in, free throws and turnovers. The Thunder got to the line more often than the Cavs. Oklahoma City went 24-30 from the line while Cleveland went 6-11. The turnover prone Cavs had 20 on the night while the Thunder only had 12.
Collin Sexton leads Cavs with 23 points
Collin Sexton has certainly improved as this season has gone on. Sexton is usually one of the Cavs top scorers and Wednesday was no exception. The second-year guard went 9-18 from the field, including making 4 of 6 three-point attempts. Sexton also had 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Kevin Love scores 20
The Cleveland Cavaliers power forward ended up with 20 points on the night on a 8-17 shooting effort. Kevin Love went 3-7 from deep, including a three-pointer down the stretch that kept Cleveland in the game temporarily before there intentional foul fest began. Love also finished with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal on the night.
Larry Nance Jr. came to play
Larry Nance Jr. returned to a bench role Wednesday and still stuffed the stat sheet. Nance had 14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal in 32 minutes. It was a lot of time on the court for Nance and he certainly made the most of it. Part of the reason Nance saw so much time was due to Tristan Thompson being held out for the second consecutive game.
John Henson starts for Tristan Thompson
John Henson stepped in for Tristan Thompson and had a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds). It was a pretty admirable performance from Henson who saw season-high in minutes Wednesday (31). It is very possible that the Cavs were using their game against the Thunder to show off Henson to potential trade partners and if that was their plan, it may have worked.
