The Thunder Cavs are on a historic winning streak
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The Thunder Cavs are on a historic winning streak

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

Team chemistry, a fast-paced style and an impressive backcourt and frontcourt have propelled Cleveland to the top of the East.

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Best in the Eastern Conference. Best in the Western Conference. The best shooting team in the NBA vs. the best defensive team in the NBA. A duel like only two others in the history of the league.

Clear the calendar for Wednesday night when Oklahoma City heads to Cleveland (7 ET, ESPN).

Technically, any game between an East and West team is a potential NBA Finals preview – but this game certainly deserves that distinction. A Thunder team on a 15-game winning streak taking on a Cavaliers team on a 10-game winning streak (after having a 15-game streak of their own earlier this season).

“Every game is a challenge and every game is an opportunity to get better,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “During the NBA season, there is a different challenge every night. Every game tests you in different ways.”

He’s not wrong. But his team is 30-5. Cleveland is an NBA-best 31-4. Together that makes it 61-9. Of course, these teams are tested every game, but the Thunder and Cavs pass almost every one of these tests with flying colors.

“We expect to win every game,” Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell said.

He laughed as he said that. The thing is, maybe he wasn’t kidding. And the Thunder, less than three years removed from going 24-58, should probably expect a win every time they take the floor.

“It’s cool,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I try not to think about where we’ve been or where we’re going, but just stay in the moment.”

These teams – the first game of an ESPN doubleheader on Wednesday, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee taking on Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio in the nightcap (9:30 a.m. ET, ESPN) – are really a clash of styles.

They are the best at almost everything.

Cleveland leads the NBA in field goal percentage (.504). Oklahoma City leads the NBA in field goal percentage defense (.426). Cleveland is second in the league in points per game (122.5). Oklahoma City leads the league in points allowed per game (103.0). Cleveland leads the league in 3-point percentage (.404). Oklahoma City – you guessed it – leads the league in 3-point defense percentage (.327).

There is still a long way to go this season. It’s not even half over yet. But the Cavs have a big lead over Boston in the East and the Thunder are running away with the West. Barring complete collapses next month, Daigneault, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson and their staff will travel to San Francisco to practice in the All-Star Game. And at this rate, it won’t be long before phrases like “home advantage” and “No. 1 Seed” is being spread around Cleveland and OKC.

“It’s so hard to win in this league. You know, there’s so much parity,” Atkinson said. “I think you start a wave, a kind of wave of trust, and then everything flows. It seems like we’ve caught this. And it is a collective trust. Sometimes there are two or three people. We have 12 or 13 players who play with great confidence on both sides.”

A lot of that is happening in the league at the moment.

This season, there were 16 teams – more than half the league – that already had a winning streak of five or more games. New York had just had a nine-game winning streak broken by the Thunder last Friday. Boston, Dallas, Milwaukee, Phoenix and the Thunder (excluding their current 15-game streak) have all had a seven-game streak so far this season.

But what the Cavs and Thunder are doing is historic on several levels. They are the first teams since Toronto and Milwaukee in 2019-20 to have a winning streak of 15 or more games in the same NBA season.

And Wednesday will be just the third game in NBA history in which two teams with a winning streak of at least 10 games face off. The others: February 29, 2000, when the Los Angeles Lakers played Portland (both had an 11-game streak), and January 26, 1995, when Utah played Seattle (both had a 10-game streak).

Additionally, this is the second time two NBA teams have posted 30-5 starts or better in the same season. The other was 1971-72, when the Lakers started 32-3 and the Milwaukee Bucks started 30-5.

They ended up meeting in the playoffs that season. The Lakers defeated the Bucks in the West finals en route to the NBA title.

When the Cavs and Thunder meet in this season’s playoffs, the Larry O’Brien Trophy will be on the line in the NBA Finals. And given the way these clubs play, there’s no reason to think this isn’t a real possibility.

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