by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com
Two of the NBA’s top teams square off as the surging Cleveland Cavaliers (36-21, 3rd in the Eastern Conference) visit the West-leading and defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder (43-14) this afternoon at Paycom Center on ABC. Today’s contest could be an NBA Finals preview as Cleveland and Oklahoma City are now the betting favorites to win their respective conferences.
This is the second and final regular season meeting between Cleveland and Oklahoma City. The Thunder throttled the Cavaliers 136-104 in Cleveland on Jan. 19. Oklahoma City has dominated the Cleveland of late winning five of the last six matchups. The Cavaliers have lost three in a row at Oklahoma City, their last road victory against the Thunder occurred in January 2022.
Cleveland is a 2.5-point favorite and the total is 225.5.
WHAT BOTH TEAMS DID IN THEIR PREVIOUS GAME
Cleveland outlasted the up-and-coming Charlotte Hornets (26-31) 118-113 on the road on Friday night for their seventh straight victory. Cleveland appeared to be cruising to an easy victory after building a 14-point lead (47-33) in the second quarter, but the Hornets came back and took a 64-62 lead early in the third quarter. Cleveland regained control of the game over the final 5 minutes to pull out the five-point win.
All-Star Donovan Mitchell finished with a team-high 32 points (9-22 FG, 2-7 3Pt, 12-13 FT) for Cleveland in the win. He scored 13 of those points in the fourth quarter. Jarrett Allen added 26 points (11-15 FG, 4-5 FT), 14 rebounds and a block, while James Harden logged 18 points (6-14 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 4-4 FT), 8 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal for the Cavs. Cleveland has won seven in a row and 12 of their last 13 games.
The short-handed Thunder blew out the hapless Brooklyn Nets (15-40) 105-86 at home on Friday night. Oklahoma City won the game without its top 2 players in reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain) and 2025 All-Star Jalen Williams (strained right hamstring).
Trade deadline acquisition Jared McCain scored a team-high 21 points (7-12 FG, 3-6 3Pt, 4-4 FT) off the bench for the Thunder. It was McCain’s highest point total of the season in 42 games between Philadelphia and Oklahoma City. Chet Holmgren added 15 points (3-6 FG, 2-2 3Pt, 7-7 FT) and 7 rebounds, while Isaiah Hartenstein registered 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-4 FT), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.
GAME STORYLINES: CLEVELAND
Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers amassed one of the best regular seasons in franchise history when they finished 64-18. Cleveland’s 64 wins were the second-most wins in franchise history, and their most wins in a season without LeBron James. The Cavs’ 64-18 finish last year was their best record since 2008-09 when a LeBron-led Cavs team went 66-16.
Unfortunately, Cleveland was unable to replicate their regular season dominance in the postseason as the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers — led by the Michael Jordan-like heroics of Tyrese Haliburton — needed just 5 games (4-1) to upset the top-seeded Cavaliers in the Conference semis (2nd round). Losing in the conference semis was considered a huge disappointment for Cleveland.
Whether it was the stunning playoff loss to Indiana or injuries, the 2025-26 Cleveland Cavaliers appeared to be sleepwalking through the first half of the season. The Cavs sat at just 17-16 on Dec. 27. And after losing only 18 games last season, Cleveland suffered their 18th loss of the season on Jan. 8. The Cavs regrouped and went 9-3 after suffering their 18th loss as starters Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen returned from injuries.
Despite playing better and somewhat resembling last year’s 64-win team, the Cleveland Cavaliers made a move at the trade deadline that shocked everyone when they acquired 36-year-old, 11-time All-Star James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Darius Garland and a second-round pick. The move signaled Cleveland was going all in on winning an NBA title this year.
At age 36, James Harden was still playing at an elite level, averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 3.1 threes in 44 games with the Clippers. His addition to the Cavaliers has catapulted them to the betting favorites to win the Eastern Conference at +300. Harden is averaging 18.4 points, 8.6 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 2.6 threes on 49.1 percent shooting from the floor and 48.1 percent shooting from long distance in 5 games with Cleveland. The Cavs are 5-0 with James Harden.
Superstar Donovan Mitchell is compiling another stellar season in year 9 for Cleveland. The 29-year-old Louisville product is averaging a career-high 28.8 points, 5.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 3.6 threes on 48.6 percent shooting from the floor and 37.6 percent shooting from long distance in 53 games. Mitchell was selected as an All-Star for the seventh consecutive season this year.
The combination of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden has been perfect for the Cavaliers so far. It will be interesting to see whether the dynamic duo can continue their seamless fit together over the final 25 games of the season and the playoffs. Cleveland’s lack of reliable scoring outside of Mitchell was a glaring issue over the last 3 postseasons. Harden should presumably fix this issue.
GAME STORYLINES: OKLAHOMA CITY
Last year, the Oklahoma City Thunder completed an impeccable season where they finished with a franchise-record 68 regular season wins and then went on to capture the franchise’s second overall NBA title (1979 Seattle Supersonics), and first since they relocated to Oklahoma City — from Seattle — for the 2008-09 season. The Thunder’s championship run was remarkable when you consider they were the youngest team (average age of 25.6 years) to win an NBA title since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977.
The catalyst and foundation for Oklahoma City’s 2025 title run was the play of regular season and finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder acquired a then-20-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander in July 2019 from the Clippers. His ascension into an All-NBA performer by his fourth season (2022-23) with the team, began the three-year journey for the Thunder winning the championship.
In addition to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s exploits, Oklahoma City made several stellar personnel decisions — drafting Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddy, Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell and signing Isaiah Hartenstein as a free agent in July 2024 — that hastened their rebuild. The Thunder went from finishing 24-58 in 2021-22 to amassing a 68-14 mark and winning the NBA title just 3 seasons later in 2024-25.
After capturing the 2024-25 NBA title, Oklahoma City got off to a sizzling 24-1 start to this season. Their 24-1 start matched the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors — who finished that campaign with the best regular season record in NBA history at 73-9. There was talk that Oklahoma City could clear Golden State by a few games due to their incredible depth and unselfishness.
The best regular season record of all time is no longer in the picture for Oklahoma City as injuries to key players (Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Ajay Mitchell) and possibly complacency has led to a 19-13 mark since the 24-1 start. Oklahoma City’s 14 losses matched the number of losses they had all of last season. Despite the “rough” 32-game stretch, the Thunder still own the best record in the Western Conference and are just a half game behind Detroit (42-13) for the best record in the NBA.
Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to play at an MVP level in his 8th season. The 27-year-old superstar is averaging 31.8 points, 6.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.8 threes on a career-high 55.4 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from long distance through 49 games. He’s in contention to capture a second straight MVP award when he returns from injury.
The injuries could become a huge issue for the Thunder as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams (17.5 pts, 5.4 asts, 4.7 rebs in 26 gms), Ajay Mitchell (14.1 pts, 3.7 asts, 1.4 stls in 43 gms) and Isaiah Hartenstein (10.6 pts, 9.6 rebs in 31 gms) have dealt with or are dealing with significant injuries.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has missed the last 6 games with an abdominal strain, and will be out until next Friday (Feb. 27) at the earliest. OKC has gone 3-3 without him. Jalen Williams is dealing with a right hamstring injury that caused him to miss the first 19 games of the season, and currently has him sidelined for the next 2 weeks at least. Breakout second-year guard Ajay Mitchell has missed the last 12 games with an abdominal strain and will be out for about another week.
Oklahoma City has a deep and talented team and are the defending NBA champs, but taking the floor without three of its top four scorers for a long stretch of games and playing .500 ball — instead of at the .700 clip that they’ve been accustomed too over the last year and a half — may bring a sense of doubt amongst the team that could be hard to break whenever Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell all return.
THE PICK: CAVS (-2.5)
Cleveland has been red-hot of late, especially after acquiring veteran superstar James Harden. I think their torrid play continues this afternoon against an ailing Oklahoma City squad who will be missing their best two players in reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. Lay the Points and take the Cavs!