Jan 19, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell (25) during the second half at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
It’s irresponsible to speak in broad generalities when discussing a team’s performance, but it’s happened too many times for it to be a fluke. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a culture of playing soft in big games.
Leading the way in the NBA Sunday slate, the Cavs were looking to build off their seven-game win streak by beating up on an injured Thunder team in Oklahoma City. This wasn’t just some role players out for the Thunder, either; they were missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, arguably the two best players on the Thunder.
For the third time in a row, the Thunder absolutely dominated the Cavs. Culturally, something is off with Cleveland when they face OKC. They play such a scared style of basketball, and put themselves behind the eight ball time and time again. They fell behind 28-5 in this one and showed some grit to take the lead at times in the second half, but lost it with a terrible 4th-quarter performance.
It wasn’t all on the Cavs; the refs missed some crucial calls that flipped momentum in this one, the most egregious being a goaltend by Chet Holmgren that turned into a three on the other end for the Thunder.
However, it would be beyond stupid to blame this loss on the refs. Donovan Mitchell had a solid game, but has continued to find his jumper in big games for Cleveland, finishing 0/6 from three. He and James Harden both finished with 20 points apiece, but they combined for 8 turnovers, allowing the Thunder’s defense to control the pace from start to finish.
Once again, the biggest issues for Cleveland came from the front court. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were thoroughly outphysicalled by Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. Those two were a +17 and +23, respectively, and that’s exactly what you saw while watching the game.
They provided way more defensive rim protection for the Thunder and took over the game late in the 4th quarter when it was needed. Both Holmgren and Hartenstein took turns picking on Jarrett Allen, and he looked like he didn’t belong on the court because of it. Cleveland continues to struggle with physical centers, and it showed up as a massive issue in the 4th quarter of a very winnable game.
Another flaw that has plagued the Cavs all season is their three-point defense. They are 27th in the NBA in opponent three-point percent, and the Thunder took advantage of that weakness, knocking down twenty-one from beyond the arc.
Cleveland had been one of the hottest teams in the league going into this one, but they went away from everything that made them the hottest team in the league. They settled for way too many threes; the guards did not apply enough consistent rim pressure; and the bigs were forgotten about once OKC started knocking down some shots.
I’ll never understand how a team can look so impressive some nights, then immediately regress to the same flawed version of themselves that we see every time an opponent is chippy with them. I’m not sure if there is a fix for that type of mental issue without having to reconstruct the roster in the offseason.
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