Cavs still looking for consistency as Thunder come to town

CLEVELAND — Six games into the season, the Cavaliers have looked pretty good at times. Other times, not so much.

That’s not necessarily unusual for early November. But the Cavs have some fairly large goals this season, and they’re still figuring out the best way to go about reaching them.

Next up are the Thunder, who visit Rocket Arena on Monday at 7 p.m. Both teams are 4-2.

The Cavs are coming off their most complete performance, a 136-111 road win over the Bucks on Saturday. It wasn’t exactly against a powerhouse, but there were some encouraging signs.

Mostly, the Cavs made a point of getting Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen involved offensively. Mobley scored 27, Allen added 25, and neither Donovan Mitchell nor James Harden had to carry the load.

Coach Kenny Atkinson has plenty of offensive options. The challenge is making sure they’re all being used, and that the Cavs aren’t relying too heavily on their guards to create everything.

Monday offers another opportunity to work on that, particularly with Thunder big man Chet Holmgren sidelined by a knee injury.

Oklahoma City is also without Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso. The Thunder have lost two straight, though Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26.0 points per game) remains plenty capable of creating problems.

The Cavs have injury concerns of their own. Jaylon Tyson (ankle) and Nae’Qwan Tomlin (back) are out, while Peyton Watson (hamstring) is questionable.

Anyway, nobody is going to remember much about Game 7 come April. The Cavs know that as well as anyone.

But Saturday was a reminder of what works. Monday is another chance to show they can stick with it.

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