OKLAHOMA CITY –

The Oklahoma City Thunder rode a dominant start and timely finish to a 121-113 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon at Paycom Center.

Oklahoma City forced 10 early turnovers and quickly built control. Kason Wallace found Isaiah Joe in the corner for a three that pushed the Thunder ahead 25-5 in the first quarter.

Joe finished with 22 points and five steals, with the defensive tone set early.

In the second quarter, Wallace knocked down a three to extend the Thunder lead to 61-48. Wallace turned in one of his most complete games of the season with 20 points and 10 assists.

Cleveland made its push in the second half and briefly took a one-point lead in the third quarter, but Oklahoma City responded.

With the Thunder lead down to four in the fourth quarter, Aaron Wiggins connected with Chet Holmgren for a momentum-shifting dunk. Holmgren finished with 17 points and added three blocks.

Isaiah Hartenstein provided the exclamation point late with a poster dunk as OKC secured the victory and snapped Cleveland’s win streak.

Defense and shot-making key

The Thunder’s defensive activity, particularly from Joe, helped fuel the win.

“A lot of times it started with helping off on their main guys and just trying to fill into the gaps,” Joe said. “It was just about activity and just trying to create havoc anyway that I can.”Wallace said the early tip time made the fast start even more important.

“Early game, so we tried to get our legs into it right from the jump,” Wallace said. “I feel like we came out hot and we had a little bit of momentum early in the game.”Head coach Mark Daigneault credited both the energy and shot-making.

“Major league shot making, which obviously makes everything look better optically,” Daigneault said. “But we had great energy through the first punch in the game… to grab the game the way we did early was key today.”

What’s next

The win gives Oklahoma City its 44th victory of the season. The Thunder now head back on the road with games at Toronto on Tuesday and Detroit on Wednesday before returning home to host Denver on Friday.

Topić shares gratitude

Earlier this week, Thunder guard Nikola Topić spoke publicly for the first time since returning from cancer treatment and expressed appreciation for the organization’s support.

“I gotta thank the Thunder’s organization as a whole… they were so supportive of everything and the whole process,” Topić said. “I’ll remember that for the rest of my life and I’ll try to kind of say thank you on the court.”