Three Takeaways From OKC's Dominant Showing Against the Cavaliers

In pretty surprising fashion, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat up on the Cleveland Cavaliers at home, walking away with a 134-114 victory. The final score was not reflective of how much the Thunder truly took over the game and the Cavaliers narrowed its deficit late in the game.

At one point in a game that was supposed to be competitive, the Thunder led by 42 points. Just about everything was going right, from star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 40 points to an elite on and off-ball defensive performance.

The last time these two squads squared off, Cleveland bested OKC. It was a back-and-forth battle and a more physical Cleveland team, with its home crowd behind them, gritted out a 129-122 victory. That very victory made the pregame predictions narrow and presented the game as a tight battle. Cleveland had an advantage as the Thunder were without starting center Isaiah Hartenstein. This played perfectly into its big starting lineup with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

Somehow, despite having a massive size advantage, the Thunder dominated on both sides of the ball. Jaylin Williams started in Hartenstein's place and rookie Branden Carlson also saw extended playing time as well. Those two and many more aided in the blowout victory.

Here are three takeaways from OKC's impressive win over the Cavaliers:

First Half Frenzy

A slow offensive start for both teams in the first six minutes of the game signaled for a potential slugfest. Neither team could buy a bucket, and both teams were locked in on defense. Cleveland jumped out to a 12-10 lea,d and after that, OKC broke the game open.

Six straight points from Gilgeous-Alexander got the run going and a triple from Carlson extended it even further. By the end of the first quarter, OKC led 32-14. Cleveland only scored two points in the final six minutes of the quarter.

That lead got even larger at the start of the second quarter. Oklahoma City scored the first eight points of the quarter, all of which came from Williams and Lu Dort. Everything was clicking on both sides of the ball for the Thunder and it seemed as if nothing would go wrong. They ended the first half leading 75-49 and the game was far out of reach for Cleveland to make a comeback.

Forced Turnovers

The Thunder forced 21 turnovers against Cleveland, with 12 in the first half and nine in the second. Furthermore, 12 of those came from steals, a stat in which Alex Caruso and Williams led the way with three. That defensive pressure, which was applied all night, was a driving force in the final result.

With Hartenstein out and OKC forced to defend two larger players, a small-ball lineup that was constantly flying around on defense created chaos that Cleveland could not handle. When Mobley and Allen would catch the ball in the paint, most of the time, a second defender would come and swarm them from the backside help position. Some fouls were committed and others a score was the result but turnovers came out of that scenario frequently.

Oklahoma City also scored 30 points off those 21 turnovers, compared to Cleveland's seven. Unsurprisingly, the Thunder leads the NBA in that exact stat, averaging 23.4 per game. OKC's high-level defense was integral to its offense, which is a common occurrence on a game-to-game basis. It was on point against Cleveland and resulted in around 22% of the Thunder's overall scoring.

Dort's Massive Night

The big OKC guard finished with 22 points in the blowout win, shooting 8-for-11 from the field and an impressive 6-for-9 from the perimeter. He filled the box score everywhere else as well, adding two rebounds and assists, a block and a steal to his impressive night.

Arguably as important as the points themself was the timing of the buckets. There was never any guarantee that the Thunder would hold onto its monster lead beyond the first half and three triples in the opening stretch of the third quarter quickly trampled any attempt at gaining momentum by Cleveland. He also hit the opening shot for the Thunder from outside after a turnover in the first offensive possession.

Dort's shooting 40.4% from three this season, which ranks in the top 50 in the NBA this season. An above-average shooting night for the Thunder was all they needed to blow out one of the best teams in the league. If Dort can string more performances like this together, or even keep them in his back pocket for the playoffs, OKC will be hard to stop offensively.

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI 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.