If Wednesday’s Cleveland-Oklahoma City game was a potential NBA Finals preview, sign me up for that right now.
I’ll take a best-of-7 Finals featuring the kind of basketball that was played in the Cavaliers’ 129-122 victory against the Thunder.
Spare me narratives about market size. Just give me great, competitive basketball. Give me two teams with great players who play great offense and defense.
Give me Cleveland-Oklahoma City.
Right now, they’re the two best teams in the NBA – Cleveland at 32-4 and Oklahoma City at 30-6. It doesn’t mean it stays that way. Getting to the Finals is difficult so there’s no guarantee for any team. Oklahoma City has to get through the gauntlet that is the Western Conference, and the Cavaliers likely have to beat defending champion Boston.
But there’s enough evidence through this portion of the season that indicates both the Thunder, whose 15-game winning streak ended with the loss, and Cavs, who extended their winning streak to 11 games, can do that.
They pass the eye and data test. They both have stars (OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland) and stars in the making (Thunder’s Jalen Williams and Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley). They both have two excellent coaches (Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson and Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault) and have been assembled by smart front-office staffs (led by OKC’s Sam Presti and Cleveland’s Koby Altman).
And they pass the entertainment test, too. Both teams are fun to watch – Cleveland is No. 1 offensively and No. 8 defensively, and Oklahoma City is No. 8 offensively and No. 1 defensively. And they share the basketball – Cleveland had 36 assists on 47 made field goals, and Oklahoma City had 35 assists on 48 made field goals.
Wednesday’s game also had 30 lead changes and eight ties. It had an 84-point third quarter and 46-point fourth quarter. Neither team led by more than nine points, and it was a two-point margin – 124-122 Cleveland – with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Allen, an All-Star in 2022, finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals, and Mobley, who is moving closer to his first All-Star appearance, had 21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, one block and one steal. The two 6-foot-11 bigs (twin towers in today’s NBA!) provide an old-school feel while adapting to a modern game.
And the Cavs, under Atkinson, have a modern game with 3-point shooting: No. 1 in 3-point percentage and No. 3 in 3s made per game.
They can beat opponents multiple ways, and they did that against the Thunder, scoring 60 points in the paint on 65.2% shooting and scoring 45 points from 3-point range on 41.7% shooting. Cleveland has a strong inside-outside game with depth.
The Thunder have an MVP candidate in Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 31 points, and if Williams, who had 25 points, nine assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block, doesn’t make the All-Star team, that’s a problem. And don’t forget, Chet Holmgren is expected to return from a hip injury sometime this season, giving OKC more depth.
The Thunder have been building toward this for several seasons.
Maybe one of the teams gets to the Finals. Maybe both. Possibly neither.
But, if it’s Thunder-Cavaliers, count me in.