The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their sixth loss of the season, 134-114, to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. The 20-point blowout loss was the Cavs’ worst loss of the season and just the third time the team gave up over 130 points all year. Donovan Mitchell was held to just eight points on 3-15 shooting; he is a combined 6-31 against the Thunder this season. After the game, head coach Kenny Atkinson and Mitchell had blunt comments for the media.
Cavs Coach and Star Brutally Honest After Thunder Blowout Loss
“They imposed their will in every sense,” Atkinson said. “They turned us over and then we couldn’t stop them. But it started from the turnovers, 21 turnovers I think, which is uncharacteristic of us. We knew it was coming, we knew their force was coming, we knew that’s their identity and they imposed their identity.
In the first matchup between the teams, Cleveland had just 15 turnovers to Oklahoma City’s 13, with both teams’ points off turnovers being nearly even. However, on Thursday, it was a different story. The Cavs had 14 more turnovers than the Thunder and were outscored 30-7 off those mistakes. Impressively, Oklahoma City forces a league-high 18.6 opponent turnovers per game.
Along with forcing 21 Cleveland turnovers, the Thunder shot the lights out of the ball. In the first half, Oklahoma City shot 60.9% from the field and 57.9% from behind the arc, scoring 75 points. The Cavs never put a run together and trailed by as many as 42 in the third quarter.
“Disappointed, until the last group came,” Atkinson said. “We tried to go small to get back in it then we lost our rim protection they were getting layups. So our tactical adjustments didn’t work, we tried some zone and they hit threes, tried to hit Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]. Kind of one of those nights where nothing worked… I’m more looking forward to how we respond against Minnesota.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped a game-high 40 points on an immense 17-26 shooting performance. Shai was one of seven teammates to shoot 50% or better on the night. The offensive explosion was the Thunder’s seventh 130+ point game of the year.
Mitchell’s Comments
In addition to dominating the Cavs all night, OKC held Mitchell in check again. He has a combined 19 points in two matchups against the Thunder this year. Mitchell took the blame for the loss in a postgame press conference.
“If you are going to point somewhere, it’s me,” Mitchell said. “Have to do my job. I didn’t do it.”
Mitchell has been the Cavs talisman since joining Cleveland in 2022. He is their leading scorer and a shoo-in for his third consecutive All-Star appearance as a Cavalier. However, Mitchell has scored 30+ points just three times in his last 20 games. During that stretch, he is averaging 21 points per game on 42.6% shooting compared to his first 18 games where he averaged 24.7 points on 46.6% from the field.
The Last Word
The Cavs’ loss to the Thunder is not the end of the world. Despite being dominated for large portions of the game, Cleveland proved they can hang with them in their win last week. With how strong the Thunder’s defense is, when they shoot as well as they did, they are nearly impossible to beat. Both Atkinson and Mitchell recognize their shortcomings and expect to correct them on Saturday in Minnesota.
The post Cavs Coach and Star Brutally Honest After Thunder Blowout Loss appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.