Following the Oklahoma City Thunder’s wire-to-wire victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell has his talk about OKC’s fouling scheme that led to his recent bad game, but do facts support his claim?

The Cavs didn’t have any answer for the Thunder all-game long. It was a defensive performance for OKC, and it definitely stood out when Mitchell was hounded all-game long, not being able to put up his usual game against the defending champs.

The Thunder defense made him suffer. Mitchell was averaging 28.6 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.5 rebounds on 48.6% shooting. In the game against OKC, however, he ended up with 20 points on 9-19 shooting and was 0-6 from deep. He also logged 35 minutes in that stretch, which was his most in a 10-game stretch.

For what it’s worth, it was Lu Dort who guarded Mitchell in the whole game. Well, we all know what happens when you get put into the Dorture Chamber, and Mitchell definitely didn’t have a bad day–he was having his worst game of the season so far.

Mitchell in the Last Four Meetings vs OKC

Going back to Mitchell’s last four meetings versus the Thunder, it’s quite shocking that the Cavs star has the guts to actually say that OKC is fouling him hard and getting away with it. In fact, the data doesn’t really back up his claim at this point.

In the last two seasons against the Thunder, Mitchell has averaged 14.5 points on a tough 29% shooting from the field. That also includes a very poor 15% shooting from three, and the worst of them all, a 36.5% true shooting percentage. If you’re still not convinced, Mitchell was also a -47 in plus/minus across those four games.

No one would have expected Mitchell to struggle so hard against the Thunder across two seasons. What even makes it even worse is that he was so good against OKC in his days with the Utah Jazz, even sending them home at one point in the NBA Playoffs. In fact, there was a time when there were conversations about Mitchell owning OKC.

But ever since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and the rest of the OKC gang saw a revamped roster, Mitchell hasn’t been able to beat them at their best. Heck, Mitchell and the Cavs just lost to the B team of Oklahoma City. Considering that there have been a lot of injuries for the defending champs, Cleveland’s streak should not have been broken.

Mitchell Just Sucks Against OKC

Come to think of it, the Cavaliers didn’t just lose to the Thunder. Mitchell is continuously getting schooled whenever he plays against OKC. We’re seeing one player consistently struggle to play against one team for four straight games. Sure, the Cavs have scored some wins against OKC, but we’re still yet to see a bright game from Mitchell when he plays the defending champs.

So yes, his claims are definitely a lie. In a league where old school basketball is wanted by many, Mitchell’s own talk about the Thunder getting away with fouls on him is quite absurd. One can say that he’s just playing trash against them at this point, and the only way to sway critics is to just ride along foul criticism that the Thunder gets.