Oklahoma City Thunder @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Wednesday, January 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM ET
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | Game ID: 22400509
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 25 37 41 26 129OKC 32 27 43 20 122
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Cavaliers beat Thunder 129-122 to end OKC's 15-game winning streak in matchup of NBA's top teams
CLEVELAND -- — Jarrett Allen scored 25 points, Evan Mobley added 21 and the Cleveland Cavaliers ended Oklahoma City's 15-game winning streak by beating the Thunder 129-122 on Wednesday night in a marquee meeting between the NBA's top two teams.
The Cavs extended their winning streak to 11, improved the league's best record to 32-4 — 11-0 against the West — and moved to 19-1 at home. They did it on an off night for leading scorer Donovan Mitchell , who had just 11 points on 3 of 16 shooting.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and Jalen Williams had 25 for the Thunder in their first loss since Dec. 1.
While it's only January and there's a lot of basketball ahead, the game's intensity had the all vibes of a Finals matchup in June. There were 30 lead changes and neither team led by more than nine.
The matchup was only the third in history between teams riding double-digit winning streaks. The last time it happened was on Jan. 26, 1995, when Seattle and Utah entered their game each on 10-game winning streaks.
Takeaways Thunder: Gilgeous-Alexander is the team's undisputed star, but Oklahoma City has some nice pieces. Center Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Cavaliers: Cleveland showed its balance, depth and that it can get by when Mitchell isn't on. Mobley and Allen combined for 22 rebounds and 13 assists. Darius Garland had 18 points, seven assists and hit a floater to put OKC away.
Key moment With Cleveland up 125-122, Mitchell was called for a loose ball foul with 1:19 left. The Cavs challenged and the call was reversed by replay review. Mobley then hit a 10-footer in the lane to put Cleveland up by five.
Key stat Only four teams have posted a better record through 36 games than Cleveland: Golden State (34-2) in 2015-16, Philadelphia (33-3) in 1966-67, the Los Angeles Lakers (33-3) in 1971-72 and Chicago (33-3) in 1995-96.
Up next Thunder: Continue four-game trip at New York on Friday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECL C. LeVert
DG D. Garland
DM D. Mitchell
DW D. Wade
EM E. Mobley
GN G. Niang
IO I. Okoro
JA J. Allen
MS M. Strus
TJ T. Jerome
OKCAW A. Wiggins
CW C. Wallace
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
JW Jay. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
CLE/OKC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur