Cleveland made the last quarter of the Oklahoma City game look like a different contest, but the earlier work still mattered. The Cavaliers poured in 42 points in the fourth and still finished eight short. Oklahoma City got to the foul line much more often and gave the ball away less, two ways to keep scoring when a late rally arrives. I’m curious whether people saw Cleveland’s surge as a real change in the quality of its chances or mostly a hot finish.
Our provisional result has Oklahoma City winning 124–116 after leading by 14 through three quarters. The final stat feed shows Cleveland making 19 threes to Oklahoma City’s 15. Oklahoma City made 27 free throws to Cleveland’s 17 and committed 10 turnovers to Cleveland’s 14. That mix helps explain how the lead survived, though the box score alone cannot tell us exactly which defensive adjustments created those trips.
