NBA
Cavaliers vs Thunder Injury Report & Preview: NBA Game Of The Year Contender Already?
Olly Taliku has worked with highly respected sports and gambling websites such as The Sports Daily, Basketball Insiders, Augusta Free Press and Business2Community where he has produced hundreds of articles alongside being published with Burton Albion and Chesterfield FC. At Burton Olly worked closely alongside the women's team, producing mainly matchday content including reports and interviews, while at Chesterfield he worked in a similar role but with the academy side, as well as some first team content. He also has experience as an accredited Premier League and EFL writer for Prost International where he worked during the 2021/22 season to produce matchday content as an on location reporter. Olly specialises in football as well as long form SEO content plus news, tips and betting but also produces content on basketball, baseball and American football. Some of his sports betting work can be found on www.sportslens.com and www.thesportsdaily.com.
All posts by Oliver TalikuUpdated08 Jan 2025
OKC faces off with the Cavaliers on Wednesday night in what could be an early contender for game of the year already – see below for a full preview including injury reports for both teams.
Who Wins Cavaliers vs Thunder?
On Wednesday the two most in form teams in the NBA will meet in Cleveland, with the Cavaliers hosting OKC in what promises to be a game of the year contender already.
The Cavaliers currently sit top of the East with a 31-4 record and 10 wins on the bounce solidifying them as real contenders this year for the championship.
OKC on the other hand are leading the West with a similar 30-5 record. Oklahoma will have a chance to draw level with the Cavs on Wednesday night with a win, which would be their 16th in a row should they be victorious on the road.
As the hosts Cleveland come into the game as marginal betting favourites according to the best online sportsbooks, but OKC are not to be laughed at with the underdogs priced at +120 to win.
The Cavaliers have less injury troubles than their opponents this week and in their recent win streak there has been contributions made by almost every player on the court.
OKC differ to their opposition in that respect, as the mantle of top points scorer will no doubt fall to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is a leading contender for MVP this season. Shai has averaged 31.3 points per game so far this season but over the last month he has been closer to 33.3 per game.
Jalen Williams has been OKC’s leading scorer after Shai this year with Chet Holmgren dealing with a long term injury on the sideline, but ‘J-Dub’ looks set to earn his first All-star nomination in a year where he needed to step up.
🚨 MUST-SEE MATCHUP. TONIGHT. 🚨
🍿 Top 2 teams in the NBA
🍿 First game in NBA history between a team on a 15-game winning streak (OKC) and a team on a 10-game winning streak (CLE)
🍿 Third time in league history that teams with a winning percentage of .850 or better will meet… pic.twitter.com/l2Ftc3BG6f— NBA (@NBA) January 8, 2025
Cavaliers vs Thunder Injury Report
Cavaliers
- Questionable: Isaac Okoro (AC joint sprain)
- Questionable: Sam Merrill (ankle sprain)
- Out: Luke Travers (G League two-way)
Thunder
- Out: Chet Holmgren (hip fracture)
- Out: Alex Caruso (hip strain)
- Out: Ousmane Dieng (G League assignment)
- Out: Nikola Topic (torn ACL)
- Out: Ajay Mitchell (toe sprain)
