Thunder Gameday: Oklahoma City Closes Road Trip in Cleveland
The Oklahoma City Thunder play Eastern Conference teams twice each season. For their two matchups against the Cleveland Cavaliers, both come within the span of a week.
Exactly one week ago, the Cavs were in Oklahoma City and pulled off a 107-102 win over the Thunder. This time around, OKC will look earn the victory on the road in Cleveland.
ODDS:
The Thunder enter the day as 12.5-point underdogs to the Cavaliers, and the total over/under is 209.5 points.
KEYS TO THE GAME:
When these two teams faced off last week, Darius Garland was the star of the show. The young guard is becoming the face of the franchise in Cleveland. He finished that game with 27 points and 18 assists in what was one of the best performances of his career.
Additionally, rookie Evan Mobley notched a 20-point performance, going 8-of-14 from the floor.
This time around, Oklahoma City will need to make life difficult for those two as they're the heart and soul of the Cavs’ offense.
More holistically, the Thunder dominated on the boards in that contest, which will be a key focus again this time around. To their detriment, they turned the ball over 16 times which was a major difference in that game.
In the second and final contest between Cleveland and Oklahoma City this season, it should be an exciting night. The dynamic scoring duo of Lu Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be on full display.
RECORDS:
Oklahoma City Thunder (14-31) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (27-19)
WHEN:
Saturday, January 22, 2022 at 7:00 PM CT
LOCATION:
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
TV/RADIO:
Bally Sports Oklahoma, NBATV, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal
FINAL WORD:
The Thunder will be on the second night of a road back-to-back against the Cavaliers following a game against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. The travel and lack of rest will be a huge factor against this talented Cleveland team on Saturday.
Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
