NBA: Strong start helps depleted Thunder snap Cavaliers' 7-game win streak

Isaiah Joe scored 22 points and recorded a career-high five steals, while Cason Wallace added 20 points and a career-best 10 assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-113 victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

Joe and Wallace were in the starting lineup as the Thunder were without their star guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.

The loss ended Cleveland's seven-game winning streak. Oklahoma City has now won four of its last five games.

The Thunder held a 10-point lead after Wallace’s reverse layup with 2:56 remaining, but the Cavaliers kept fighting. Cleveland had a chance to cut it to a one-possession game in the final minute, but Evan Mobley’s 3-pointer with 43 seconds left bounced off the rim, and Isaiah Hartenstein secured the rebound.

Cleveland got another opportunity after Dennis Schröder was initially called for an away-from-the-ball foul in the final 30 seconds that would have given Oklahoma City a free throw and possession. A Cavaliers challenge overturned the call to an offensive foul on Joe, but Cleveland couldn’t capitalize, and the Thunder closed out the game at the free-throw line.

James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and Sam Merrill each scored 20 points for the Cavaliers.

In an early-afternoon start, Cleveland looked sluggish. Oklahoma City opened the game with a 9-0 run and led by 23 points just over seven minutes in. The Cavaliers committed 10 turnovers during that stretch, allowing the Thunder to build a 28-5 lead. Joe had all five of his steals in the first six minutes and scored 11 points in the opening quarter.

Cleveland settled down, avoiding turnovers over the final five minutes of the first quarter and hitting 7 of 8 shots to cut the deficit to 15 entering the second. Although the Cavaliers made just 2 of 13 from three-point range in the second quarter, they gradually chipped away at the lead. Defensive pressure limited Oklahoma City’s opportunities, and Cleveland committed only one turnover in the period, pulling within eight points late in the half.

The momentum continued in the third quarter, as Cleveland opened with a 14-4 run to take its first lead of the game at 69-68. The Thunder started the second half shooting 1-for-8 from the field.

Oklahoma City finished the game hitting 21 three-pointers, including 8 of 12 in the first quarter, and shot 51.2% from beyond the arc.

—Field Level Media/Reuters