Who’s Playing
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Current Records: Cleveland 34-5, Oklahoma City 33-6
How To Watch
What to Know
The Thunder are on a six-game streak of home wins, while the Cavaliers are on a six-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Oklahoma City Thunder will challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday at Paycom Center. The Thunder are expected to win (but not by much) so they will need to come into the match prepared for a fight.
The Thunder will bounce into Thursday’s game after (finally) beating the 76ers, who they had gone 2-8 against in their ten prior meetings. The Thunder enjoyed a cozy 118-102 victory over the 76ers on Tuesday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, almost dropping a double-double on 32 points and nine assists. The contest was his ninth in a row with at least 30 points. Jalen Williams was another key player, posting 24 points in addition to six assists and three steals.
The Thunder were working as a unit and finished the game with 32 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as the 76ers only posted 23.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers beat the Pacers 127-117 on Tuesday.
The Cavaliers got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Donovan Mitchell out in front who almost dropped a double-double on 35 points and nine rebounds. Mitchell had some trouble finding his footing against the Pacers on Sunday, so this was a step in the right direction. Another player making a difference was Evan Mobley, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Oklahoma City has been performing incredibly well recently as they’ve won 18 of their last 19 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 33-6 record this season. As for Cleveland, their victory bumped their record up to 34-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: The Thunder haven’t given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 11.5 turnovers per game (they’re ranked first in turnovers per game overall). However, it’s not like the Cavaliers (currently ranked fourth) struggle in that department as they’ve been averaging only 12.4. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
The Thunder came up short against the Cavaliers in their previous meeting last Wednesday, falling 129-122. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 11 rebounds. Back with a vengeance, will the Thunder be able to stop him this time around? There’s only one way to find out.
Odds
Oklahoma City is a slight 1.5-point favorite against Cleveland, according to the latest NBA odds.
The line on this game has moved quite a bit since it opened, as it started out with the Thunder as a 4.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 232.5 points.
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Series History
Oklahoma City and Cleveland both have 5 wins in their last 10 games.
- Jan 08, 2025 – Cleveland 129 vs. Oklahoma City 122
- Nov 08, 2023 – Oklahoma City 128 vs. Cleveland 120
- Oct 27, 2023 – Oklahoma City 108 vs. Cleveland 105
- Jan 27, 2023 – Oklahoma City 112 vs. Cleveland 100
- Dec 10, 2022 – Cleveland 110 vs. Oklahoma City 102
- Jan 22, 2022 – Cleveland 94 vs. Oklahoma City 87
- Jan 15, 2022 – Cleveland 107 vs. Oklahoma City 102
- Apr 08, 2021 – Cleveland 129 vs. Oklahoma City 102
- Feb 21, 2021 – Oklahoma City 117 vs. Cleveland 101
- Feb 05, 2020 – Oklahoma City 109 vs. Cleveland 103
