'Situational grit': Thunder rallies to beat Cavaliers behind Chet Holmgren's record game

Story by

Story by
'Situational grit': Thunder rallies to beat Cavaliers behind Chet Holmgren's record game

Joe Mussatto, The Oklahoman · The Oklahoman

Sat, Oct 28, 2023 ·

7 min read

About Our Ads

CLEVELAND — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pounded the ball after snatching a game-sealing steal from Donovan Mitchell . There was extra oomph in SGA's dribble, an extra skip in his step as the buzzer sounded.

The Thunder's 108-105 win against the Cavaliers on Friday night in Cleveland was no ordinary victory. It was just the second game of the regular season, yet it felt like a season-shaping win.

The Thunder rallied from a 10-point deficit with 2:25 to play. It looked like Mitchell and the Cavs had left the Thunder for dead. But then Lu Dort , who had 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, made a 3-pointer to cut Cleveland's lead to seven.

Then came an SGA 3-pointer 30 seconds later and a Jalen Williams 3-pointer 30 seconds after that.

Those shots led up to the biggest of all: A Chet Holmgren triple to tie the game 102-102 with a minute left.

Cleveland's lead had evaporated in a snap.

Dort clinched the win with a go-ahead layup and dogged one-on-one defense against Mitchell.

"I'm one of the best defenders in the NBA," Dort said. "I train for those types of moments. He's a really tough cover, he's a really great player. He probably had 40 something, I don't know much he had, but it was tough. It was tough. At least it was not easy."

More: OKC Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren joins exclusive club with record-setting blocks number

Mitchell was fabulous, scoring 43 points on 56% shooting on a night when his All-Star backcourt mate, Darius Garland , was sidelined with a hamstring strain. The Cavs were also missing Jarrett Allen , their starting center.

Still, the Thunder's win was mighty impressive.

"Great situational grit down the stretch to hang in there," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

As for what it says about this young team?

"That we really wanna win," said Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a team-high 34 points with 11 rebounds. "And we prioritize that over anything."

The Thunder is 2-0 with a solid road win at Chicago and a spectacular one at Cleveland.

"Every road win feels like a big win," Gilgeous-Alexander said.

OKC is 2-0 for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

"They've got a collective confidence that's pretty impressive for any team," Daigneault said. "I thought that was on display these first couple games."

More: How did Chet Holmgren feel about his NBA debut in Thunder's win vs. Bulls?

Thunder forward Chet Holmgren reacts after a 3-point basket in the second half of a 108-105 win against the Cavaliers in Cleveland.

Chet Holmgren vs. Evan Mobley

Chet Holmgren blocked Evan Mobley, then Holmgren came up with the loose ball and led a Thunder fastbreak, dishing to fellow rookie Cason Wallace for a corner 3-pointer.

Welcome to Thunder U 2.0.

Holmgren flashed all of his skills as a modern center, scoring 16 points with 13 rebounds and two assists. Oh yeah, and seven blocks — a Thunder rookie record.

Holmgren, a 7-footer, shot 3-of-4 from deep. He not only had the game-tying 3-pointer with a minute left, but a go-ahead 3-pointer earlier in the fourth quarter.

"Just reading the game," Holmgren said. "They just happened to be really big shots — go-ahead shots, game-tying shots late in the game. That's what the game was giving me. Shoutout to my teammates for finding me on those."

Holmgren's defensive impact was even greater. Sure, he bit hard on a few fakes, but the seven blocks were loud. As was one possession in the fourth quarter when Holmgren literally defended the whole court, going baseline to baseline to stymie one Cavs look after another.

"Man, just trying to get a stop," Holmgren said. "Every team wishes it was easy, but in the NBA that was not the case."

Holmgren and Mobley, two of the most promising bigs in basketball, were tangled up all night. Like two redwoods crashing into each other — limbs everywhere.

Holmgren got the best of Mobley and vice versa. Mobley had 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Holmgren was better, though, at least on this night.

"He was blocking shots, he was all over the place defensively," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "He was who he needed to be for us to win tonight."

Daigneault did his best to temper the growing expectations for Holmgren.

"Long way to go," Daigneault said. "Has a lot to learn. Makes a lot of predictable mistakes, rookie mistakes. I think it's really important for us not to get blinded by his talent, but he's talented."

More: Mussatto: Ease up on OKC Thunder expectations for this season. The good times are now.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell reacts after being fouled in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Josh Giddey , Jalen Williams struggle from field

Josh Giddey generated points with his superb passing and Jalen Williams made a clutch 3-pointer and steal down the stretch, but neither shot the ball well.

Giddey went 1-of-8 from the field. Williams was 4-of-14.

Isaiah Joe was also off, shooting 2-of-10, including 1-of-7 from three.

The Molson Twins, Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort, combined for 55% of the Thunder's points.

SGA, by the way, is averaging 32 points on 61% shooting two games in.

Vasilije Micic makes NBA/Thunder debut

Former EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic made his NBA/Thunder debut in a tough spot, midway through the third quarter as the Cavs were mounting a rally.

Micic had two early turnovers but did make a 3-pointer, his only attempt.

Micic did not play (coach's decision) in the Thunder's season opener Wednesday night in Chicago, and Micic only played six minutes Friday night in Cleveland.

"It's just different guys on different nights," Daigneault said Friday morning at shootaround. "Just going off matchups, and just decided to go with those guys the other night. It'll shift pretty quickly, maybe not a ton tonight, but it'll shift as we go here. We're gonna get a look at everybody, including him."

More: Here is the OKC Thunder's roster, player contracts entering 2023-24 NBA regular season

Thunder tip-ins

Jaylin Williams (right hamstring strain) and Kenrich Williams (lower back spasms) remained out for the Thunder. Two-way wing Keyontae Johnson was inactive.
The Thunder started the game on a 7-0 run. The Cavaliers responded with a 7-0 run of their own.
Cason Wallace and Ousmane Dieng were the first two off the bench, checking in for Jalen Williams and Holmgren.
Turns out Wallace is human. Just barely. He shot 3-of-4 from the field and is now 8-of-9 to start his NBA career. Wallace played 19 minutes off the bench.
Daigneault made a substitution with five seconds left in the first quarter. Why? The Thunder was taking the ball out of bounds, and Daigneault wanted his inbound specialist, Giddey, in the game. Giddey threw a beauty to a cutting SGA for an easy layup. Giddey remains a weapon as an inbounder.
Cavs wing Isaac Okoro exited early in the third quarter after taking an incidental elbow to the face from Jalen Williams. He returned later in the quarter.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took his first free throw with five seconds left in the game. It looked like he was going to be shut out from the free throw line, which never happened last season.
Former Thunder guard Ty Jerome played nine minutes off Cleveland's bench.

Thunder vs. Nuggets

TIPOFF: 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Paycom Center (Bally Sports Oklahoma)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thunder rallies past Cavaliers as Chet Holmgren sets OKC rookie record

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: