The hottest workforce within the NBA meets the highest workforce within the Western Conference when the Cleveland Cavaliers go to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
The Cavaliers have gained seven consecutive video games and 12 of their final 13.
Cleveland has but to lose since buying James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4.
The Cavaliers are coming off a 118-113 win in Charlotte on Friday.
While Harden definitely has been a major piece for Cleveland, the Cavs’ current success goes nicely past him.
The second unit of Dennis Schroder, Jaylon Tyson, Keon Ellis, Thomas Bryant and Nae’Qwan Tomlin all have been on the optimistic facet in plus-minus within the win over the Hornets. Among the starters, solely Harden was a plus.
“The second unit is our energy unit,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson stated. “All the sudden it just changes the whole speed of the game. We speed the other team up, and it’s nice to have that change of pace. I know that’s hard to play against.”
Generally, the Thunder have been capable of put on groups down with their depth in current seasons. But with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams remaining out, plus sixth man Ajay Mitchell , Oklahoma City’s depth has taken a major hit.
The Thunder have needed to discover other ways to succeed whereas profitable three of their final 4.
Oklahoma City’s current roster adjustments weren’t as dramatic as Cleveland’s buying and selling for Harden, however they have been a lot impactful particularly with out Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams accessible just lately.
“We’re obviously missing some on-ball creators so the way we’re trying to create advantages is different right now,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault stated. “But once we create the advantage and once we get the ball ahead, those plays aren’t any different.”
The Thunder acquired Jared McCain in a commerce with Philadelphia.
McCain scored a season-high 21 factors on 7-of-12 taking pictures in Friday’s 105-86 win over Brooklyn.
Oklahoma City additionally added level guard Nikola Topic to the energetic roster after lacking all of final season recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and the primary 55 video games of this season after being identified with testicular most cancers simply earlier than the beginning of the season.
Topic performed an enormous function within the Thunder’s early fourth-quarter run in opposition to the Nets that helped them put the sport away for good.
“He’s got really good sense for the game,” Daigneault stated. “He goes in there and acts like he belongs. He shoots the threes. He’s not afraid to drive. … It’s pretty impressive for a guy that’s two games into his career to have the confidence to do that.
“He’s clearly acquired an extended solution to go even simply from a conditioning standpoint however we’re actually enthusiastic about him.”
For the Thunder, the game starts a stretch where they’ll play 10 of 12 games against teams who enter Sunday in the top eight in their conference’s standings.
Oklahoma City beat Cleveland by 32 points on Jan. 19 in Cleveland.
Two days later, the Cavs beat the Hornets to begin their current hot stretch.
Field Level Media
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