NBA Game Notes: Thunder small-ball and Cavs big-ball both win

Notes from LAC-OKC, CLE-CHI, SAS-SAC, BKN-NOP, HOU-WAS

Monday was a weird night in the NBA. Only five games and all five tipped off at 8:00 PM ET. Not that this east coaster is complaining about the early bedtime!

With all only five games, I was able to watch them all. Here’s what I saw!

LA Clippers - 128 at Oklahoma City Thunder - 134

• With Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams all out, the Thunder leaded fully into small-ball. Jalen Williams opened the game as the center. The Clippers wasted no time in going right at him, but Williams set a strong base and then stripped Ivica Zubac of the ball:

  On the flip side, shots like this are ones OKC is going to have to live with for a while:

  But, on the whole, the Thunder had a great approach in the first half. They swarmed Zubac and held him to only two shots. That’s going to have to be the way forward for now.

• Going back to Jalen Williams…he was awesome in this game. He went for 28/8/6 with two steals. And this all came while banging on the interior with Zubac for a lot of the game.

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the active hands patrol, as he swiped five steals himself. Overall, the Thunder snagged 16 steals, which outpaced their already league-leading pace of 12 per game.

• Look for Aaron Wiggins to continue to play a bigger role. He’s already a rotation guy, but he’s one of the few Thunder players with even a little bit of size. He put together a 10/4/4 line with some solid defense.

• Once the Clippers settled in and weren’t force touches to Ivica Zubac, they started playing better. That included the big man himself, as he went 7-for-10 from the floor in the second half.

• Norman Powell continued his run of hot play. He’s been terrific so far this season. Whenever Kawhi Leonard gets back, the Clippers have to be careful to not cede too much of Powell’s increased role to Leonard.

• Kris Dunn did a nice job defensively, considering LA struggled on that end. The really impressive part of Dunn’s night was dishing out eight assists. He regularly got downhill and broke down OKC’s defense.

Cleveland Cavaliers - 119 at Chicago Bulls - 113

• The Cavs are a machine right now. Even when games are close, they are trusting their process and finishing games strong.

• Evan Mobley only had two assists in this one, but they were both worth highlighting. This first one was a nice find to Donovan Mitchell, who cut after missing the three-pointer. Also, what a circus finish from Mitchell:

  This one is the really exciting one. Mobley catches off the screen, takes a dribble, draws the help and sets up Caris LeVert in the corner. This is the good stuff:

• In the third quarter, with the Cavs trailing, Kenny Atkinson took all four of Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley off the floor. For the final 4:42 of the third quarter, Atkinson ran with an all-reserve lineup of Sam Merrill, Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, Ty Jerome and Dean Wade. That group outscored Chicago 19-9 and gave the Cavs a three-point lead heading into the final period.

• Nikola Vucevic continues to have a big-time bounce-back season. Vucevic is on the best run he’s had since his initial half-season with the Bulls in 2021. Chicago would probably still like to move Vucevic if the right deal comes along. But, for now, he’s delivering for them.

• The Bulls have been competitive because they are really moving the ball. The increased pace has also helped, because more possessions means more touches for everyone. This allows for Zach LaVine, Coby White and Josh Giddey to also have plenty of time with the ball in their hands to do their things.