The Cleveland Cavaliers were taken to the woodshed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in their 134-114 loss. That happens sometimes. It would be dangerous to take away too many conclusions from this one. We know the Cavaliers are a great team and are still six games up on the Boston Celtics for first in the conference.
That said, no one is going to get a good grade for this type of performance.
Grades are based on our expectations for each player.
Donovan Mitchell
8 points (3-15 shooting), 2 assists, 2 rebounds
Mitchell missed a point-blank look at the rim on Cleveland’s second possession. That set the tone for what was an all-around horrendous night. The Cavs needed their best player to lead them or at least break Oklahoma City’s game-sealing runs in the first half. Mitchell was nowhere to be found in those moments.
Lu Dort and this Thunder defense have Mitchell’s number. They’ve done an excellent job of making him finish over multiple help defenders in the paint which he simply hasn’t been able to do. As a result, he’s now a combined 6-31 against Oklahoma City.
Grade: F-
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Darius Garland
20 points (7-10 shooting), 9 assists
Garland was one of the few players who showed up, but the numbers look a little better than the on-court product. The Cavs needed someone to pull them out of their funk in the first half and Garland couldn’t do it.
Mitchell and Evan Mobley didn’t have it. That isn’t Garland’s fault. But the situation called for Garland to put on his superhero cape and he didn’t. That’s going to knock him down just slightly in a game the Cavs were run off the floor in.
Grade: B-
Evan Mobley
5 points (2-7 shooting), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers
Mobley feasted against the Thunder’s smaller defenders as he put up one of the best performances of his career in their first meeting. This was the exact opposite of that impressive performance.
Dirk Nowitzki: soft, choker… Hall of Famer
Dirk Nowitzki will go down as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA — not just the best international hoopers but the greatest period. His long list of accomplishments ranging from NBA champion and MVP to ending in a Hall of Fame career more than backs up that claim. Besides being the most celebrated Dallas Maverick in franchise history, the seven-foot sweet jump-shooting gentle giant from Germany has a strong case for one of the most unguardable shots ever with a killer fadeaway that often broke the spirit of opposing teams. That’s the Dirk we’ve come to know and love. But that wasn’t always how we saw him. Before entering the NBA, Dirk was a mysterious foreign player who didn’t look cut out for the league when he arrived. A guy who’s too soft to amount to anything. A weak leader. A dude who folded like a wet napkin in crucial spots. Let’s meet those versions of Dirk Nowitzki in the Prism.
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The Thunder were forced to play smaller this game without Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren. Oklahoma City completely bought into that plan. They constantly sent help defenders his way whenever he caught the ball. This resulted in the indecisive version of Mobley we saw back in the 2023 playoffs against the New York Knicks.
Grade: F
Jarrett Allen
13 points (6-6 shooting), 7 rebounds, 2 turnovers
allen scored Cleveland’s first two baskets and grabbed three offensive rebounds in the first two and a half minutes. It seemed like he was going to be the key to the Cavs bullying the Thunder’s thin frontcourt. That advantage never materialized beyond those first few minutes.
It’s difficult to be too harsh with Allen. He executed the game plan and was on the bench for the Thunder’s initial run. Still, you would’ve liked to see him play with that initial level of aggression for longer than he did.
Grade: C+
Dean Wade
6 points (2-4 shooting), 5 rebounds, 1 assist
Everything fell apart after Wade was subbed out in the first quarter. Whether or not that was happenstance or not is something you can decide. What we do know is that Wade did his job and even held his own when the Cavs tried to match the Thunder’s style by inserting him at center.
This wasn’t a standout game, but Wade wasn’t the issue here.
Grade: C-
Max Strus
3 points (1-6 shooting), 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers
Everything went awry when Strus, Caris LeVert, and Georges Niang entered the game. They were the ones on the court when the Cavs offense ground to a halt and the Thunder got whatever they wanted. Each has to own that to some degree.
Strus wasn’t the star reserve he was in their win over the Thunder last year. They needed a jolt of something off the bench and he couldn’t provide it.
Grade: D
Caris LeVert
9 points (3-5 shooting), 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Like Strus, LeVert couldn’t provide the life that this team needed. This wasn’t the worst game we’ve seen, but he didn’t do much to keep the Thunder from going on their extended first-quarter run that put the game out of reach.
Grade: D
Georges Niang
5 points (2-7 shooting), 2 rebounds, 1 assist
It felt like Niang couldn’t hang on the court with Cleveland’s opponent for the first time this season. He wasn’t able to stay with Oklahoma City’s quicker reserves and he wasn’t able to make them pay at the other end with his outside shot.
Tonight, was what the worst-case scenario for Niang looks like.
Grade: F
Ty Jerome
12 points (4-5 shooting), 4 assists, 3
The Cavs needed more Jerome in this game. The outcome was basically decided by the time he got in during the second quarter, but you could still see how his ball-handling would’ve been useful when the Cavs were getting run off the floor.
This is two games now where Jerome has performed well in this matchup. He deserves credit for that.
Grade: B
Isaac Okoro
7 points (2-9 shooting), 3 rebounds, 1 assist
The Cavs had no answer for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander including when Okoro was guarding him. On the other end, Okoro continues to struggle to find his shot since his injury. He hit his first three-pointer since December but still went 1-9 from three.
Okoro isn’t a useful player if he isn’t an impactful defensive player and is this bad offensively.
Grade: F
Sam Merrill
9 points (3-6 shooting), 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Merrill wasn’t in the rotation for maybe the first time this season. He’s had a tough time with his outside shot recently but may have found something in garbage time when he went 3-6 from three.
The Cavs could use his shooting coming off the bench. Hopefully, this performance serves as a confidence boost to get him going in the right direction.
