Defending champs too much for shorthanded Cavs to handle

It was a Martin Luther King Day special as the Cleveland Cavaliers welcomed in the reigning NBA Champions, Oklahoma City Thunder for a matinee special. But it would be the Thunder walking away with a 135-107 victory on the road. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stole the show with 30 points, while big man Chet Holmgren followed up with 28 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks.

As for Cleveland, Donavan Mitchell led the way with a quiet 19 points as he had just nine total going into the third quarter. Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Jaylon Tyson, and De'Andre Hunter all finished with 16 points each.

Both teams came in shorthanded as a handful of stars were missing. OKC was without Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein. While the Cavs were without Darius Garland, Sam Merill, and Max Strus who has not played yet this season.

The game itself started off very tight in the opening minutes as the Cavaliers held an early 6-5 lead. But it would not take long for the Thunder to go on a 14-6 run to open up a 19-12 lead themselves. Jaylin Williams was knocking down three's early on, and when you begin to mix in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as well, it flipped a bunch of pressure onto the home team.

Cleveland finally got back into the game once Oklahoma City's offense cooled down along with making more shots themselves. Cutting it down to a five point deficit, it was still a 32-27 lead for the road team. If it wasn't for four turnovers in the first quarter, the Cavs could have easily had a lead. Mobley started off a hot 4-for-4 with eight points early on.

The home team being shorthanded was noticeable to start the second quarter as they were running a lineup of Lonzo Ball, Tyrese Proctor, Dean Wade, Nae'Qwan Tomlin, and Jarrett Allen. Halfway through the second, it remained a close game as the Thunder held a 44-38 lead.

Without Garland and Merill, the lack of three point shooting from Cleveland began to show. The Thunder would end up shooting 10-for-22 from long range, while the Cavaliers were shooting just 4-for-18 h from deep themselves in the first half. It was a big reason why the game got out of hand with a 16-6 run to end the second quarter, as the defending champions walked into halftime with a 66-51 lead.

Oklahoma City started off the second half with a 8-3 run looking like it would be much of the same. But a 14-2 run by Cleveland cut their deficit all the way down to 78-70. Despite the effort to get back into it, it was still a 12-point deficit at the end of the third quarter with the Thunder leading 91-79.

The defending champs ended up being too much to handle as Holmgren was feeling himself to start the fourth quarter, helping open it up to a 102-84 lead with still 9:40 left to play. The Cavs were hanging around a 12-13 point deficit, but they still couldn't get any closer. A third three from Holmgren late in the fourth was essentially the dagger putting OKC up 116-99 with over three minutes to go.

As if it was all but over already, the Thunder closed out the game on an astonishing 20-4 run making it a 136-104 win at the end of it all. With the offense shooting a red hot 56% including going 23-for-47 from 3PT, there's no wonder why Cleveland got outscored by 20 in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers next face