National Basketball Association
Preview
Oklahoma City at Cleveland
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Nos. 3 and 2 teams in the Eastern Conference en route to extending their overall winning streak to a franchise-best 15 games.

Next up for the Thunder? Well, it's the team with the best record in the East -- and the NBA, for that matter -- as they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Oklahoma City boasts an 11-0 record versus Eastern Conference foes while Cleveland sports a 10-0 mark against Western Conference representatives.

The Cavaliers also are riding high on a 10-game winning streak -- all by double digits, mind you -- and are a scintillating 18-1 at home this season.

"It's going to be hard on the road to get off to the slow starts that we've been getting off to lately. So we have to kind of fix that," Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We got to throw the first punch, especially on the road against good teams with their environment, their crowd behind them."

Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault has faith in his team after ending the New York Knicks' nine-game winning streak on Friday and defeating the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics two nights later.

"More pressure, more grit, more intensity," Daigneault said. "We've got a level we can play at that can really be good (on defense)."

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points in each of the last two games and has served as the team's leading scorer in each of the last eight. The two-time All-Star owns team-best averages in points (31.3), assists (6.1), steals (2.0) and blocks (1.1).

Oklahoma City's current winning streak matches the longest of the season by an NBA team. Cleveland began the campaign with 15 straight victories.

The Cavaliers made some noise after their last game, as Darius Garland expressed a bit of frustration as to why his team isn't getting the recognition he feels it deserves.

"I wish I had an answer to that because I think that we deserve to have recognition for being the best team in the league," Garland said, per Cleveland.com. "Especially with the group that we have, the brand of basketball that we play. I think it's really exciting. I think it's fun.

"I think it's actual great basketball, and it should be shown a lot more. It should be just really out there, in my opinion. But I guess (we're) a small market. That's the only thing I can really think of, to be honest with you."

Garland made a statement on the court as well, scoring 25 points in the Cavaliers' 115-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. He is averaging 20.5 points to trail only Donovan Mitchell (23.3) for the team lead.

Garland also expressed his intentions for the immediate future.

"I want to be an All-Star," said Garland, whose lone All-Star selection to date came in the 2021-22 season. "I want to get back to that level of play that I've been at and I'm healthy this season. I plan on being in San Francisco."

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W/L Strk Home Away Day Night Div Conf
Oklahoma City 30-5 W10 17-2 13-3 2-0 28-5 5-1 19-5
Cleveland 31-4 W10 18-1 13-3 1-1 30-3 6-0 21-4
Last Meeting
Oklahoma City Cleveland
Date Away Home Pts Reb FG% Pts Reb FG%
11/8/23 CLE 120 OKC 128 128 41 51.2 120 41 50.6
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Oklahoma City S. Gilgeous-Alexander 43 68.2 12
Cleveland C. LeVert 29 50.0 13
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Oklahoma City S. Gilgeous-Alexander 7 2 5
Cleveland M. Strus 7 2 5
Assists Player  
Oklahoma City J. Giddey 6
Cleveland D. Garland 9
Season
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Oklahoma City S. Gilgeous-Alexander 1156 52.0 257
Cleveland D. Mitchell 838 45.3 107
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Oklahoma City I. Hartenstein 276 64 212
Cleveland J. Allen 389 96 293
Assists Player  
Oklahoma City S. Gilgeous-Alexander 228
Cleveland D. Garland 238
Quickchart Matchup
Oklahoma City Oklahoma City Off vs  Cleveland Cleveland Defense
Oklahoma City Off vs Cleveland - Points For 115.1 Points For
Oklahoma City Off vs Cleveland - Points Against 110.7 Points Against
Oklahoma City - FG% 46.8 FG%
Cleveland - FG% 45.0 FG%
Oklahoma City - Reb 43.7 Reb
Cleveland - Reb 44.1 Reb
Cleveland Cleveland Off vs  Oklahoma City Oklahoma City Defense
Cleveland Off vs Oklahoma City - Points For 122.5 Points For
Cleveland Off vs Oklahoma City - Points Against 103.0 Points Against
Cleveland - FG% 50.4 FG%
Oklahoma City - FG% 42.6 FG%
Cleveland - Reb 43.8 Reb
Oklahoma City - Reb 47.3 Reb