The Cleveland Cavaliers earned a 129-122 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, pushing their record to 32-4 (now 33-4) — the fifth-best regular season start in NBA history. But more important than any regular season milestone, the win served as a statement: the Cleveland Cavaliers are an inner circle title contender right now.
The entire game was a showcase in everything making this team so special. But there was one play that stood above the rest AND encapsulates why opposing teams are praying they don’t draw Cleveland in a playoff series.
Before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s view the play in question. Watch it closely and see if you can pick up on what we’re going to talk about.
Let’s start with the basics. Obviously, this was the game-sealing sequence. But notice how it takes place on offense. After years of making their bones on the defensive end of the floor, the Cavaliers are now the best offense in basketball. In fact, as of writing this, the Cavaliers have the greatest relative offensive rating in NBA history. Their defense is still sound (ninth in defensive rating), but it is their offense propelling them to this historic start. Now, let’s talk about the pieces in this puzzle.
Darius Garland
The first place your eyes probably went was on the author of that punctuating basket: Darius Garland. Despite missing a shot on the offensive end, the Thunder did a great job of getting back defensively, Cason Wallace, one of the team’s fiercest on-ball defenders (93rd percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus, per Dunks & Threes), stationed himself in front of Garland. Much to his dismay, though, even the most valiant of efforts can’t keep the slippery Garland contained, as he blew by Wallace to get to the rim.
But in the NBA, it isn’t uncommon for skilled ball-handlers to get by venerable defenders. That’s why help principles are put into place to account for these situations. So, where was the help here?3
Donovan Mitchell
On the left slot sits Donovan Mitchell. The only offensive player on the Cavaliers more dangerous than Garland. Last season, he averaged nearly 30 points per game in the postseason and, basically, single-handedly willed the Cavaliers past the Orlando Magic. Oh, and he’s a lethal catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter, making 40 percent of those shots over the last three years (77th percentile, per Thinking Basketball). There is no chance Lu Dort is leaving him to try and help on a drive.
Max Strus
After trying to set a ghost screen for Garland, Max Strus migrates over to the strong-side corner. As Garland is yo-yoing around Wallace, we see two moments where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Strus’ defender) attempt to get into a denial position. This seems silly when you look at the stat sheet (he’s shot 35 percent or less from downtown in three of his last five seasons).
However, sometimes numbers don’t paint the entire picture. Strus is kind of a like a modern Robert Horry in the sense he’s a fearless sniper who isn’t afraid of making a big play in a big game. He started every playoff game for the Miami Heat during their magical Finals run in the 2023 and played an integral role in their defying of the odds. Plus, in this game (a big game), Strus had already drained five of his six triples. Gilgeous-Alexander was right not to gap off him too much. Besides, since he was the strong-side defender, it wasn’t really his rotation to make anyway.
Evan Mobley
That leaves us with two possible avenues to bring help from: Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein. Williams, the human Swiss Army Knife, tried to make a play at the rim but was just a hair late because he was preoccupied with Evan Mobley’s baseline cut.
That movement is a hallmark feature of the Cavaliers’ offense. It serves as a counter to when teams challenge Mobley’s shooting prowess by sagging off of him. Williams was hypersensitive to it because just three minutes earlier, he got burned by the same play.
Jarrett Allen
With Chet Holmgren out because of a hip injury, Hartenstein is the Thunder’s best rim protector. And as someone who sits in the 90th percentile in block rate, he’s a good one at that. Unfortunately, he was unable to even put a hand up on this drive. Why is that?
Watch the clip again. Look at how Hartenstein has to do a quick check on Jarrett Allen before rotating back into the paint. Some may interpret that as him trying to avoid a three-second call. That may have been the reason, but even more likely is he didn’t want to let Allen clean up a Garland miss for his eighth offensive rebound of the game.
All night long, Allen was crashing the glass and creating extra shots for the Cavaliers. In total, they had 24 second-chance points (four more than the Thunder), and Allen was a huge reason why.
The Bottom Line
Is this all starting to make sense? In this five-man lineup, you have not one, but two on-ball creators (Garland and Mitchell) capable of dismantling a defensive infrastructure on their lonesome. Both of them are willing and able catch-and-shoot marksmen. You have another dynamic shooter who becomes unconscious in the most high-leverage situations (Strus). And you have two powerful bigs who love to cut for lobs and offensive rebounds. That’s all without getting into the players sitting on the bench for this possession (shoutout to guys like Dean Wade, Ty Jerome, Caris LeVert and Georges Niang).
This Cavaliers team is jam-packed with offensive firepower. It’s the kind making them virtually impossible to stop on any given play, especially one that clinched a mighty impressive win over the West-leading, 30-6 Thunder.
