Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the rest of the NBA season could just be various instances spent listening to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander go WOOOO to varying decibels and degrees of excitement? It would be, to borrow from a master gone too soon, Lynchian.
If not that, then to watch the Thunder and Cavaliers play each other, over and over, until April 13th. I suspect we still wouldn’t have our fill of these two teams but don’t fret, we’d have a riveting seven game series. Each game a competitive and tight feast for the eyes.
To really get an understanding of how, though relentless pressuring and seamless switching, the Thunder have run away with the first overall defensive rating. That even against a team like Cleveland who pride themselves on the way they’re able to take care of the ball, and their communication skills, OKC can pluck the ball out of the hands of an opponent on a fastbreak, a drive, as if they were walking right up to a kid and taking candy from their hands.
That Gilgeous-Alexander, who already plays on a tilt, his axis permanently downhill, will bow from the waist to get even lower, bully his shoulders into the space between him and Donovan Mitchell, who’s suddenly turned hapless and rigid and way too upright. In the next possession Gilgeous-Alexander barely has to feign his body going left before careening to the right and blowing by Isaac Okoro, absolutely left in the dust.
It isn’t fair to give Gilgeous-Alexander all of the spotlight, even in a game where he put up 40 points. In the sequences where Jalen Williams stepped in as primary ball handler he whirred around Caris LeVert, blitzing right up to a dazed Dean Wade, and pulled up for the shot. Moments later, when the full force of the Thunder’s defence pressuring Cleveland to the point where, seemingly exhausted, LeVert stumbled and fell into the key, Williams scooped the ball out and away from the tangle, almost full court down to a waiting Aaron Wiggins for an easy layup.
Of course, this all makes it sound like watching these two teams in perpetuity is going to look heavily lopsided for the Thunder. The matchup last night was a wallop for the West, for sure, but Cleveland showed why they’ve been coolly leading the East and the entire league. Rainbow threes from Mitchell, light lobs over the heads of every Thunder player — just then upturned to watch — between Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, and fadeaway shots from the corner care of Max Strus.
When Cleveland felt themselves sinking into the quicksand that is Thunder they did the thing you’re supposed to do. Well, because this is basketball they didn’t keep still, but they settled into the tenets of their game to stabilize. They reeled in the pace, they didn’t let ball movement get stifled even with all the turnovers OKC were forcing, they kept talking.
The thrill of this kind of basketball is that it’s evolutionary, and often game-to-game. We hear the refrain all the time: it’s a long season. A lot of teams decide not to take their lessons immediately, knowing they’ll be plenty of games to tinker and tweak. The Cavs aren’t like that (neither are the Thunder, but this was their win) and will go away from this with a mind to strengthen each possession. They can play more physical, they do have the size for it, they can also borrow from the switchy-ness of the Thunder. But no game between these two franchises will ever look like that again.
A reminder to appreciate the fleetingness of excellence.
