If you tuned into the Oklahoma City Thunder's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday, you were in for a treat.
Relegating a season-long climate of debate around the NBA's domestic popularity to the back burner, two teams with a combined record of 61-9 played an instant classic. Led by 25 points from center Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers outdueled the Thunder 129–122 to move to an eye-popping 32-4 on the season.
Assessing the game Thursday morning, ESPN's Brian Windhorst—who has spent decades covering the league, and orbited legendary forward LeBron James for much of the NBA's modern golden age—called it one of the best regular-season contests he'd ever seen.
Brian Windhorst on Cavs-Thunder: "This was an advertisement of NBA regular season basketball at its best... that 12 minutes of basketball (in the third quarter)... was as high as a level as I've seen in the regular season in my 20+ years covering the NBA... if you don't love this… pic.twitter.com/WYmwiN2t3T
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 9, 2025
"This was an advertisement of NBA regular-season basketball at its best," Windhorst said as fellow analyst Stephen A. Smith nodded in agreement. "The way these two teams operated, the way that they played with that mastery, was as high as a level as I've seen in the regular season in my 20+ years covering the NBA."
Oklahoma City and Cleveland swapped the lead back and forth 30 times during the game, and combined for 84 points in a breathless third quarter that Windhorst singled out for praise. Overall, it was a banner night for hoops—and the NBA, which appeared to pour considerable resources into marketing the game, seemed to take notice.
"If you don't love this game if you watched this, you don't love basketball," Windhorst. "This was a display of great, high-level basketball."
More of the Latest Around the NBA
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Brian Windhorst Says Thunder-Cavaliers Game Among Best He's Seen in Regular Season.
