Thunder Game Day: OKC Takes on Undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers

After defeating the Chicago Bulls in swift fashion, the Oklahoma City Thunder will play a Cleveland Cavaliers team coming off a 50-plus win season.

Ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder's home opener against the Denver Nuggets, it will continue to stay in the Eastern Conference against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers were one of the top teams in the East last season, finishing fourth place in the conference at a record of 51-31. The addition of Donovan Mitchell propelled Cleveland to Eastern Conference Finals contenders, but the team fell apart in the first round against the New York Knicks, losing in just five games.

Cleveland is running back relatively the same core, now having a year together under their belts. Both teams are entering this game with a 1-0 record, and are looking to make runs in the playoffs this season. 

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

ODDS: 

The Thunder enter the day as 3.5-point underdogs to the Cavaliers, and the total over/under is 226.5 points.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

The Cavaliers duo of Mitchell and Darius Garland will be the biggest problem for Oklahoma City to contain, as both are highly-skilled guards who dominate on the offensive side of the ball. The Thunder have defenders such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace to throw at the guard tandem, in hopes to cause at least one of them to have an off-night. 

Oklahoma City shot the ball extremely well from 3-point range against the Chicago Bulls in its season opener, knocking down 19-of-39 attempts. If the Thunder can continue shooting the ball the way it did in Chicago, the Cavaliers will have a tough time keeping up.

Rookie Chet Holmgren will matchup against Cleveland's big man Evan Mobley, a strong rebounder and defender in the interior. Jarrett Allen has been ruled out due to injury, with more questionable on the report. It will be a more difficult task than Vucevic and Drummond for Holmgren, and he will need to hold his own on the defensive end. 

RECORDS:

Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (1-0)

INJURIES:

Check out our live injury tracker, along with our game day injury report that will release later today.

WHEN:

Friday, Oct. 27, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. CT

LOCATION:

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse - Cleveland, OH

TV/RADIO:

Bally Sports Oklahoma, NBA League Pass, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal

FINAL WORD:

The Cavaliers will be a legitimate test for a Thunder team off to a hot start, in what should be a competitive game filled with scoring prowess. Increasing its record to 2-0 before its home-opener will set itself up nicely for a matchup against the reigning NBA Champion Denver Nuggets, let by multi-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

Oklahoma City will host Denver on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 2:30 p.m. CT in Paycom Center.

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