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On this date in 1935, Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. Want your mind blown? Basketball legend Hubie Brown was almost 16 months old at that point.
Firsts: Tonight’s Cavs-Thunder showdown is a rarity
It has probably been a long time since you circled a Cleveland Cavaliers battle with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Maybe since the 2009-10 season, when LeBron James was still trying to drag Boobie Gibson and Jamario Moon to the NBA Finals as the Thunder won 50 games for the first time with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and of course Nenad Krstić.
Well, the Cavs and Thunder play tonight (7 p.m. ET on ESPN or Fubo — try it for free), and to say the least, this game has far more historical significance. Let’s set the scene:
- The Cavs are 31-4 and riding a 10-game win streak. They have the best record, and they’re currently posting the second-best offensive rating in NBA history, thanks to new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s tactical wrinkles and talent-maximization.
- The Thunder are 30-5 and on a 15-game win streak. (Technically, they lost a game after the first five of those wins, but it was the NBA Cup final, which doesn’t count toward standings.) In defensive rating, the Thunder are the only team from the last five seasons (since the post-pandemic offensive explosion) to rank in the top 200 over the last 20 seasons (when NBA rules changed to boost offense). They’re even tied for 63rd.
This type of regular-season matchup between two teams this successful and this hot almost never happens. A few facts to keep in mind, per the NBA:
- It’s the first game ever between teams on win streaks of at least 10 and 15.
- It’s the third game ever between two teams on double-digit win streaks and the first since 2000.
- It’s the first interconference game in NBA history between teams with winning percentages of .850 or higher at this point in a season or later.
- OKC is 11-0 against the East. Cleveland is 10-0 against the West. It’s a classic something’s-gotta-give battle.
Beyond the team records, the NBA will get a chance to highlight some top individual talents. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jalen Williams and Darius Garland are All-Star-caliber players or better, plus All-Defense-grade players in Alex Caruso (though he’s out tonight) and Lu Dort, along with a ton of important role players. (Not to mention, Chet Holmgren isn’t even back yet for OKC.)
Lock in tonight and enjoy the historic showdown. We’ll certainly be talking about this one tomorrow.
Matthew Hinton / Imagn Images
The Last 24
Zion returned to the court
⚜️ He’s back. After sitting out 27 games with a hamstring strain, Zion Williamson played 28 minutes in the Pelicans’ loss to the Timberwolves last night. How’d he do?
🏀 50-foot winner. Wild finish in Hawks–Jazz, with Trae Young playing hero. What a shot!
😬 No. 1 goes down. No. 8 Florida routed Tennessee, the last unbeaten team in men’s college basketball, 73-43 last night. It was a historically bad loss.
👀 Underrated NBA Draft prospects. John Hollinger has the names you need to watch, especially as March Madness nears. Some future pros here.
🏀 NBA promotion. Does the viewership issue come down to how the league is talked about? Maybe it just needs more fights.
🌍 No Euro NBA? Did this new deal for the EuroLeague just hurt the NBA’s plans across the pond? Mike Vorkunov has the answers.
📺 Big game after Cavs-Thunder. Spurs at Bucks, 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. You’re getting Victor Wembanyama against Giannis Antetokounmpo. A lot of length, talent, stats and letters in their names.
Revisionist Listory: Updated grades for 5 big offseason moves
We’re over a week into January, and that means everybody has played roughly 35 games on the season. As we approach the halfway point, it feels like a good time to see how offseason transactions are working out. We’ll do this a couple times over the next week or so, but let’s start with some of the big moves.
1. Paul George to the 76ers: Four years, $212 million. This has not worked so far. PG has played 24 of 34 games. His scoring and shooting are way down. The team is bad with him on the floor, but worse with him off, so … progress? The good news is: His defense has been good, and when he’s out there with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, this is a winning team. That’s only been 10 games, though. Updated grade: C+, but it will improve as they sustain health.
2. Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo: The Knicks have been thriving with Towns replacing Randle. He’s averaging 25.3 points on nearly 66 percent true shooting, and he’s leading the league in rebounding (14). They’re killing it with KAT on the floor. Randle’s individual numbers have been good for Minnesota, but his impact hasn’t. To make it worse, DiVincenzo went from elite shooter to league-average so far. Updated grade: A for the Knicks, D+ for the Wolves.
3. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein to the Thunder: Caruso for Josh Giddey; Hartenstein for three years, $87 million. Caruso, who hasn’t played since before Christmas, has been shooting horribly from deep, but otherwise, the addition of these two has made for dominance. Giddey has been solid for Chicago, but still can’t shoot. Updated grade: A+ for OKC, B for Chicago.
4. Klay Thompson to the Mavericks: Three years, $50 million. We’re seeing Klay add a big upgrade to Dallas, but things will be tested with Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić both out for a little while. Thompson is shooting over 38 percent from deep, and the team is great with him on the floor. Updated grade: B+, and it will get even better.
5. Chris Paul to the Spurs: One year, $11 million. The shot-making hasn’t been great, but CP3 has been surgical on the floor. San Antonio is a very good team when he’s playing, and Paul has developed a good chemistry with Wemby. This team’s offense falls off a cliff when CP3 is off the floor. Updated grade: A+, as long as he’s healthy.
Three Bad Deals: Suns, Wolves and Pels are in weird positions
The 2025 trade deadline might be a thriller, with guys like Jimmy Butler, Brandon Ingram and maybe even Bradley Beal on the move. There is also the very sobering possibility that it could be a dud because of how teams might conservatively operate in this stupid second-apron era. For fans of drama, though, there’s hope that owners and executives won’t be able to help themselves.
Jon Krawczynski and Will Guillory wrote a great piece yesterday about the situations the Timberwolves and Pelicans face with Julius Randle and Ingram, respectively. These teams don’t know what to do with players who probably shouldn’t have futures on their rosters.
The Pelicans have tried to move Ingram, who will be an unrestricted free agent. His lack of availability and his good-but-not-great talent leave any potential trade partner reticent about committing big money to him. And the Pelicans need to balance their books and roster with guys who can play, so staying long-term doesn’t really make sense.
The Wolves made a bad trade for Randle two days before training camp. He doesn’t fit into what they want to do, and the biggest benefit they got was financial flexibility under the dreaded second apron. The Wolves would be foolish to give him an extension, but they might be stuck with him due to a $30.1 million player option for next season. They should be concentrating on keeping Naz Reid, if he becomes a free agent this summer. Even if a team wanted to trade for Randle at the deadline, you’d likely have to commit long-term money to him.
As for the Suns, Beal reminded everyone this week of the power he holds with his no-trade clause. Mike Budenholzer brought him off the bench to balance things out, and it worked: Beal had 25 points as the struggling Suns beat Philadelphia by 10 on Monday. (Last night, however, Phoenix fell by double digits in Charlotte.) Many people speculated the move was due to trade rumors or other possibilities involving Beal. The 31-year-old guard addressed the media after that Sixers game:
“If (Phoenix is interested in a trade), I need to be addressed because I hold the cards. So, until I’m addressed and somebody says something differently, then I’ll be a Sun.”
Beal is one of two players in the league to have no-trade clauses. (LeBron James is the other.) All those rumors that he could be moved to Miami for Butler? It won’t happen unless Beal allows it. He is on the books for $50.2 million this season and $53.6 million next season, and he has a $57.1 million player option in 2026-27.
In prior CBAs, teams would’ve thrown money at players now, then figured it out later. You can’t really do that anymore. Teams have to spend more intelligently, lest they be forced to attach draft picks to get off these deals. And even then, we don’t know how the second apron treats those trade values. We might live in a time when teams are better off letting players walk — and other teams are better off trying to sign those players for lower deals in the summer.
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(Top photo: Trevor Ruszkowski, Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)
