Thunder fall to Cleveland as Westbrook and Oladipo struggle
Jan 29, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) grabs a rebound from Oklahoma City Thunder forward Andre Roberson (21) during the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
The OKC Thunder played their first game without Enes Kanter on Sunday, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-91.
With all due respect to the Cavs, Oklahoma City lost that game. Both sides played terrible, but the Thunder just figured out how to play worse.
It was close for the first 21 1/2 minutes. Even though the Thunder shot poorly, they scored 43 points by pushing the ball up the court and driving to the rim. Ultimately that area may have been the only bright spot on the night. They finished with 23 points off turnovers and scored 52 points in the paint.
Steven Adams only took four shots. KYLE SINGLER TOOK MORE. If you don’t have time to read a full recap, all you need to know is this: they didn’t play smart basketball today. And they didn’t play efficient basketball either.
OKC finished the afternoon shooting 37-100 from the field. They hit 6-26 from deep. Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo combined shot 13-44. With Enes Kanter out the Thunder are devoid of one of the few efficient scorers they have; they will never win when their primary scoring options shoot that poorly.
Related Story: No Enes Kanter means no trade for Oklahoma City
Want your voice heard? Join the Thunderous Intentions team!
A 15-2 Cleveland run at the end of the first half opened up a 13-point lead that the Cavs never turned back from. They showed their experience, weathering the Thunder’s fast tempo by slowing down their own pace. Cleveland realized their shots weren’t falling (8-29 from deep), so they made it an emphasis to pound the ball down low in the second half.
Players of note
Other random thoughts
This article originally appeared on 
