{"id":619116,"date":"2026-02-23T03:53:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/619116\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T03:53:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:53:25","slug":"8-takeaways-from-cavs-failed-comeback-attempt-against-shorthanded-thunder-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/619116\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Takeaways from Cavs failed comeback attempt against shorthanded Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> fought hard to erase an early 23-point deficit, but they weren\u2019t able to keep up with the Oklahoma City Thunder\u2019s hot outside shooting. The Thunder prevailed 121-113<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The starting lineup doesn\u2019t work in every context; this is one of them. Lu Dort and Cason Wallace\u2018s size and strength made it difficult for Donovan Mitchell and James Harden to attack off the dribble. The rest of the starters weren\u2019t able to do much as Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen are all play finishers and not play creators. This hurt the Cavs and was part of the reason why they turned it over seven times before the first subs entered the game.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m in favor of Wade starting in most situations<\/a>. His defense and rebounding add a different dimension for this team. However, there are some matchups where Cleveland would be better served starting someone like Jaylon Tyson or Sam Merrill. This is one of them.<\/p>\n

The Cavs lost the five minutes the starters shared the floor by 14. They won the other 43 minutes by six.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t want to over-index one game, but outings like this are why it\u2019s fair to wonder if Wade can be a difference maker in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

As mentioned, this wasn\u2019t a great matchup to use Wade as a starter. There wasn\u2019t a player that they specifically needed him to defend. When he doesn\u2019t have that, his utility goes down, which only highlights how he can be a limited offensive player.<\/p>\n

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The Cavs needed players who could shoot or provide some level of ball handling. Wade was hesitant to pull the trigger and isn\u2019t an on-ball creator. He had just one field-goal attempt in 18 minutes despite the defense being more than okay to cheat off him. You\u2019re completely handicapping your offense if neither he nor his teammates trusts him to be an active part of the offense.<\/p>\n

The Cavs wouldn\u2019t start Wade if they played the Thunder in a seven-game series. They\u2019d just use him off the bench as a backup. So, again, you don\u2019t want to make too much of this one game. But there are other matchups, like against the Detroit Pistons<\/a>, where the Cavs need Wade to guard the opponent\u2019s best player. Wade can only be placed in a spot to do so if he provides something offensively.<\/p>\n

The Cavs need to find alternative ways to get Allen involved. After spending the last few weeks talking about how they need to get him the ball early, he took just one shot in the first quarter. As has been the pattern, this carried over for the entire game as Allen had just six field goal attempts in over 28 minutes.<\/p>\n

The Thunder deserve some credit for this. They did a great job of collapsing passing lanes and sending help whenever Allen did get the ball. Cleveland\u2019s poor outside shooting allowed them to gamble as much as they did. That said, the Cavs\u2019 offense didn\u2019t really have a way to get him the ball besides just trying to force-feed him in the pick-and-roll.<\/p>\n

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Teams know that Allen is the key to getting their offense involved, especially after the addition of Harden. Allen\u2019s rim pressure opens the floor up for the guards and for shooters on the perimeter. But if it gets shut down, things can become stagnant like it did in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

Not every team has the ability to stop Allen with a drop big as good as Isaiah Hartenstein and the perimeter defender the Thunder have. It\u2019s not like it\u2019s the most replicable strategy. At the same time, a team like the Pistons \u2014 who the Cavs could face in the playoffs \u2014 can do something similar with their defensive personnel.<\/p>\n

Allen needs to be a bigger factor than he was. There\u2019s just not many situations where the Cavs are going to beat an elite opponent if he\u2019s held to just six shot attempts.<\/p>\n

Keon Ellis continues to impress with his defensive effort. He finished with two steals and was once again incredibly disruptive.<\/p>\n

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There aren\u2019t many players of his size who can alter defensive possessions as he does. Plays like the one below are an example of that.<\/p>\n

Ellis rotates like he\u2019s going to contest Chet Holmgren\u2019s drive. Holmgren assumes that Ellis is going back to the wing, but instead, he comes down and forces Holmgren out of his shot. It\u2019s not often a 6\u20194\u201d guard forces a 7\u20191\u201d center out of a jumper.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s difficult to keep someone this impactful defensively off the court.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s room for more Merrill and Harden two-man screening actions.<\/p>\n

Merrill is a good screener and had his shot working on Sunday as he went 6-10 from three. Only one of those six triples was assisted by Harden, but the ease with which the shot was created makes you wonder why they don\u2019t use it more often.<\/p>\n

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Here, a simple ghost screen from Merrill creates a wide-open look due to how much attention Harden draws to the ball. It helps that Harden can make behind-the-back passes with ease.<\/p>\n

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It can work to create open looks for Harden as well. Here, the ghost screen makes an opening for Harden to get to his patented left-handed layup.<\/p>\n

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These two have shown a natural chemistry<\/a> in their first six games together. They should lean into that much more than they currently are. This has the potential to be as lethal a combination as Harden and Allen.<\/p>\n

The spacing principles with Harden need work.<\/p>\n

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Head coach Kenny Atkinson is trying to find ways to keep elements of his movement offense while working in the isolation sets<\/a> that Harden is comfortable with. In the previous five games, the Cavs were able to make that work. They weren\u2019t on Sunday as Harden turned it over five times, with a few coming because the spacing just isn\u2019t where it needs to be.<\/p>\n

We talked about the starters not providing much spacing. This is an example of that. Four defenders are in the paint along with three Cavaliers when Harden committed the offensive foul.<\/p>\n

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And here, Dennis Schroder is stuck trying to relocate to the corner in the middle of Harden\u2019s drive, which disrupts the spacing, leading to the turnover.<\/p>\n

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Support us and Let \u2018Em Know with Homage!<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can also shop all of Homage\u2019s Cavs gear HERE<\/a>. The link to the 2016 championship shirt HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Thunder are a tough matchup for Cleveland\u2019s backcourt. There aren\u2019t many teams that have more disruptive guard defenders than Dort and Wallace. They don\u2019t give up many 30+ point games from an opposing guard. That means that the rest of the offense needs to be in sync, and they weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

As was seen here, the Cavs\u2019 offense has the potential to be good \u2014 and they were for stretches on Sunday \u2014 but they certainly aren\u2019t fine-tuned yet. The spacing wasn\u2019t great, they couldn\u2019t find a way to get Allen involved, it\u2019s fair to wonder where Mobley fits into the Harden offense, and the rotations are a work in progress. Games like this are going to expose those issues.<\/p>\n

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The Cavs are very much a work in progress. The talent is there, but they don\u2019t know who they are and how they want to play enough to quite be on the Thunder\u2019s level. In many ways, they\u2019re trying to build the plane in the air.<\/p>\n

Nothing from this game makes me think that the Cavs can\u2019t reach that level. Even though the Thunder were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, they shot uncharacteristically well from three<\/a>. Making more than half of your outside shots is going to make any team incredibly tough to beat. The Cavs also didn\u2019t do themselves any favors with the turnovers and poor shooting, yet they still had chances to win this one.<\/p>\n

Even though they failed this test, going through struggles like this is necessary. The Cavs aren\u2019t far off. The question is whether they have enough time to actually put all the pieces together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cleveland Cavaliers fought hard to erase an early 23-point deficit, but they weren\u2019t able to keep up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,205,366,193,5759,1024,188,864,839,576,949,364,560,1178,2286,3211,6,10906,310,475,179,3966,3965,1166,209,4683,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-619116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cason-wallace","10":"tag-chet-holmgren","11":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","12":"tag-dean-wade","13":"tag-dennis-schroder","14":"tag-detroit-pistons","15":"tag-donovan-mitchell","16":"tag-dort","17":"tag-evan-mobley","18":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","19":"tag-jalen-williams","20":"tag-james-harden","21":"tag-jarrett-allen","22":"tag-jaylon-tyson","23":"tag-keon-ellis","24":"tag-nba","25":"tag-ok","26":"tag-oklahoma","27":"tag-oklahoma-city","28":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","29":"tag-oklahomacity","30":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","31":"tag-sam-merrill","32":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","33":"tag-the-thunder","34":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116117925029071282","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}