On January 17th, a focus match of the NBA regular season was staged. The Western Conference's first-ranked Thunder hosted the Eastern Conference's first-ranked Cavaliers. This strong dialogue was one-sided from the first quarter, with the Thunder establishing a huge lead early on. They eventually defeated the Cavaliers 134-114, welcoming a four-game winning streak.
Thunder (34-6): Alexander played 29 minutes, scoring 40 points and 8 assists, Jalen Williams scored 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, Dort scored 22 points, and Joe scored 12 points.
Cavaliers (34-6): Garland scored 20 points and 9 assists, Allen scored 13 points and 7 rebounds, and Jerome scored 12 points.
In the middle of the first quarter, Strus hit a three-pointer, and the Cavaliers led the Thunder 12-10, which was their last lead of the game. After that, under the leadership of Alexander, the Thunder launched an 11-0 offensive wave. The Cavaliers only scored 2 points in the entire second half of the quarter. The Thunder made a three-point effort in the last 1 minute and 40 seconds, scoring 11 points in a row to end the first quarter with a 32-14 lead.
In the second quarter, the Thunder continued to expand their advantage, scoring 8 points in a row to lead 40-14. The Cavaliers gradually found their touch on the court and reduced the gap back to within 20 points. With two three-pointers from Garland and Wade, at 4 minutes and 28 seconds, the Cavaliers chased to a 16-point difference at 41-57. Alexander scored 5 points in a row, and the Thunder's advantage returned to over 20 points. At halftime, the Thunder led 75-49.
In the first half of the third quarter, Dort made a three-point effort, and the Thunder extended the gap to over 30 points. The Cavaliers were unable to stop the Thunder's offensive on the court, and the Thunder scored more than 40 points in both the second and third quarters. In the second half of the quarter, after the Thunder scored 6 points in a row, they expanded their lead to 40 points at 110-70. After three quarters of play, the Thunder led 119-81.
In the final quarter, the Cavaliers suddenly found their touch, hitting consecutive three-pointers, and Jerome led the team to a 13-0 run. After the midway point, the Cavaliers continued to narrow the gap, and after a 12-3 run, they chased to 109-131. However, due to the deep hole they had dug earlier, the team was unable to further reduce the gap. Ultimately, the Thunder won the game 134-114.