Okoro returns to the game after elbow to the head
Photo credit David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
The Cavs could not pull out a win without Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen as the Cavaliers dropped their home opener to the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-105 despite a 43 point performance from Donovan Mitchell.
Jarrett Allen has not played this season due to an ankle injury and Darius Garland missed the matchup with a left hamstring injury. Isaac Okoro started his second consecutive game while Dean Wade drew his first start of the season.
The Thunder started the game on a 7-0 run forcing the Cavs to chase Oklahoma City. Cleveland trailed by as many as 15 points but cut the lead to 10 by half. The Cavs struggled in the first half, shooting 2 for 13 from three point land and 6 of 24 from the floor.
Donovan Mitchell believed the Cavs worked well to find open shots, but just didn’t make them.
“I like a lot of the threes we took tonight, some of them didn’t fall, and you live with that, ultimately the threes did not affect our defense, that’s what I’m most proud of.”
The Cavs started the third quarter on a 20-10 run, capitalizing on 4 Thunder turnovers and turned them into 7 points. The third quarter was also the most productive for the Cavs bench, scoring 14 points.
The third quarter also saw Isaac Okoro take an elbow to the head from a Thunder player, then get stepped on by Chet Holmgren. Somehow, Okoro was called for a foul while lying on the floor in pain. Okoro would leave the game but did return. The forward ended his night with 10 points, 2 steals and 7 rebounds.
The Cavs outscored the Thunder in the second half by 7, but 2 turnovers in the final minute would derailed the comeback.
The Cavs held a 100-90 lead with less than 3 minutes in regulation. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams kept the Cavs at bay scoring 17 combined points in the final quarter. Down the stretch, Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams would hit key free throws to maintain a three point lead.
Donovan Mitchell had another spectacular effort in a Cavs jersey, scoring 43 points 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Although 2 of his 5 turnovers would come in the final minute of the game.
Mitchell almost became the hero after he nailed a pull up three to cut the Thunder lead to one with six seconds to go. Gilgeous-Alexander would make his next two free throws, but Mitchell lost the ball on the final possession Mitchell as the clock hit zeros.
After his team shot 26% (12/45) behind the three point line, Coach Bickerstaff said he doesn’t want to discourage his team from taking open shots.
“We want our guys to be confident and take open shots. These are guys who make shots, it’s not like it’s guys who are out of pocket, or doing things that weren’t in their nature, not in their skill set. We got wide open shots, you gotta take them, obviously as the season goes on, those guys will shoot their average, we’ll make our open ones. You can’t tell guys to stop taking open shots, we’ll continue to press this, we do have opportunities to put more pressure on the rim and I think that’s where our offense needs to continue to start.”
With two games under their belt, what assessment would Mitchell make of his team this early in the year?
“Just a few minor mistakes that compounded why we gave up 10 points in the last minute thirty (seconds). Not going to hang our head on this one, this is fixable, second game of the year nothing to dwell on, and we have one tomorrow, we did a lot of things well, things we can watch on film we can fix, and it’s great to have these games and moments as the year progresses, this is preparing us for the ultimate goal.”
The Cavs (1-1) will play their first of 10 back to back games this season when they host the Indiana Pacers at home on Saturday.
