Cavaliers put down the Thunder!

      The Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 129-122 in Cleveland in a rare NBA regular season game with a postseason feel.

The top team in the East, Cleveland, extended their winning streak to eleven games and ended the fifteen-game winning streak for the Thunder, the top squad in the West.

Jarrett Allen (25 and 11)  and Evan Mobley (21 and 10) each posted double-doubles in points and rebounds to pace Cleveland's victory.

The Cavaliers have three games before a January 16th rematch with the Thunder in Oklahoma City in a highly anticipated return encounter.

Swashbucklings

1) Cleveland improved to 32-4 with the win and this game felt like an NBA Finals game.

Both teams played with the type of intensity that isn't common in a regular season game and the rematch next week should be equally fun.

2) Jarrett Allen was the dominant factor in this game as Oklahoma City center Isaiah Hartenstein, a former Cavaliers, struggled to keep Allen out of the paint and couldn't match his quickness.

If these two teams ever play for a title, Jarrett Allen might make the difference between these two excellent squads.

3) Watching the game on ESPN, Doris Burke was smitten with the improvement in Evan Mobley's game since last season.

Burke credited Kenny Atkinson's usage of Mobley, which is deserved, but also marveled at his increased aggressiveness in going to the hoop and his improved willingness to bang on the inside.

If I were going to pick one thing for the stunning leap in the Cavaliers play, it would be Evan Mobley's step into stardom.

4) Donovan Mitchell struggled throughout the game, finishing with only eleven points, on three for sixteen shooting.

Still, what I like about Mitchell is that even when the shots aren't falling, he doesn't sulk and he doesnt' stop in the other facts of the game- Mitchell just keeps plugging.

5) Cleveland also received big games off the bench from Max Strus (17 pts five assists and five of six from three-point range) and Ty Jerome (fifteen points in only twelve minutes of play).

6) Evan Mobley's offensive improvement has drawn its share of kudos but Mobley's defensive play has skyrocketed as well.

Mobley gives Cleveland a second shot disruptor around the basket and teams must account for him on the defensive end of the floor.