NBA
Cavs face OKC Thunder in epic clash of NBA in-form teams
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse opens its doors this evening to one of the most attractive games of the season between East and West conference leaders.
It’s not reigning champions Boston Celtics, or the deep pocketed Golden State Warriors or even the iconic Los Angeles Lakers, the two in-form teams this season are unquestionably Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference and OKC Thunder in the West.
Both teams boast an impressive run with the Cavs only tasting defeat four times this season that includes 31 wins. Oklahoma City Thunder also claim to have an impressive season to date with just five losses in their 35 games so far.
On Wednesday night, 20,000 fans will pack the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse as the Thunder are the visitors to Ohio in what surely is “the” game of the 2024-25 NBA season to date.
The Cavaliers are flying on a 10-game winning streak and have only been beaten at home just once all season.
Thunder looking for quick start
“It’s going to be hard on the road to get off to the slow starts that we’ve been getting off to lately. So we have to kind of fix that,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We got to throw the first punch, especially on the road against good teams with their environment, their crowd behind them.”
Oklahoma City come into the match on a high after ending the New York Knicks' nine-game winning streak on Friday and defeating the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics two nights later.
“More pressure, more grit, more intensity,” Daigneault said. “We’ve got a level we can play at that can really be good (on defense).”
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points in each of the last two games and has served as the team’s leading scorer in each of the last eight.
Lack of love for Cavs
Cavs player Darius Garland expressed his frustration ahead of the game as he feels the team are not getting the national as recognition he feels they deserve.
“I wish I had an answer to that because I think that we deserve to have recognition for being the best team in the league,” Garland said, per Cleveland.com. “Especially with the group that we have, the brand of basketball that we play. I think it’s really exciting. I think it’s fun.
“I think it’s actual great basketball, and it should be shown a lot more. It should be just really out there, in my opinion. But I guess (we’re) a small market. That’s the only thing I can really think of, to be honest with you.”
Oklahoma City @ Cleveland tips off at 7pm (ET) this evening, Wednesday, 8 January.
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