Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s candid tribute to the Thunder’s 30-2 run against the Cavs

OKLAHOMA CITY — A 30-2 Oklahoma City Thunder runs led by an All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander he set the tone in Thursday’s 134-114 win against the Cleveland Cavs. Avenging last week’s 129-122 loss to the NBA-leading Cavs, The Thunder made the Cavs uncomfortable early and often as Cleveland never found its offensive rhythm to deal with Oklahoma City’s dominance on both ends of the floor.

After the win, Gilgeous-Alexander discussed the high focus of the Thunder in their win against the Cavs.

“Things like that don’t happen too often,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We played well offensively and defensively, and we just kept possession; stayed in the moment. You give yourself a chance to run like that when you do the little things and stay in the moment. That’s what we did. (We) gave ourselves a chance, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 of his 40 points in the first half as the Thunder took a 75-49 lead into the third quarter before scoring a game-high 44 points in the third quarter. Oklahoma City’s 75 points set a season record for most points scored in a first half. The Thunder’s defense held Cavs leading scorer Donovan Mitchell to eight points on 3-of-15 shooting.

Oklahoma City also forced 21 turnovers on one end of the floor and connected on 18 3-pointers on the other.

The “unpleasant” rematch of the Thunder’s match against Jaylen Williams

Thunder ahead Jaylen Williams says the Thunder made the Cavs uncomfortableunlike last week’s seven-point loss at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Thunder connected on defensive stops that led their offensive rhythm into fast break opportunities, open threes and high percentage shots.

“We just tried to make them as uncomfortable as possible, playing defense,” Williams said. “I thought we set the tone, looking back when we first played them, we just had a lot of failed coverage. When you give that to a team, they get a rhythm and it’s hard to stop them.

“So I thought we did a good job of just coming together as a team defensively and not having as many of those defensive lapses and making them really have to work for possessions,” Williams concluded.

Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led six players in double figures with 40 points. Lou Dort scored 22 points, including 6-of-9 from deep. Williams added 19 points, Isaiah Joe’s dozen points led the second unit and Branden Carlson scored 11.

For the second night of back-to-back games, the Thunder will take on Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks on the road on Friday.