Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault credited Cavs’ Jarrett Allen for his dominating performance leading Donovan Mitchell and the team in Wednesday’s loss. Following one of the more entertaining games between two small-market teams, a reporter asked Gilgeous-Alexander about its significance.

They brace for it, watch film of the potential fatalities. A fortunate few have escaped. But all endure pain, customary when you step onto the pale hardwood in Oklahoma City.  Slow, 48-minute death — just three quarters if the damage is done like it has been three times this past week — by 1,