Thunder top Cavaliers behind Westbrook's triple-double
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Russell Westbrook collected his 26th triple-double of the season to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 118-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Westbrook accounted for 29 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds. Victor Oladipo added 23 points and seven boards while Steven Adams had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder (31-23).
Kyrie Irving paced the Cavaliers (36-16) with 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting. LeBron James scored 18 points to go along with seven assists, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Westbrook put the Thunder up 103-99 with 4:58 remaining before Irving came right back to close deficit to a two.
Once again, it was Westbrook who knocked down a jumper before Oklahoma City's Jerami Grant came up with a block on the other end.
Westbrook then took Irving to the exact same spot as the play before and drained another jumper to give Oklahoma City a 107-101 advantage with 3:42 left.
James tried to answer by posting up Westbrook on the right block. But his fadeaway jump shot was off the mark. Westbrook then fed Adams for an easy bucket.
The Thunder came up with another defensive block and the loose ball landed in Westbrook's hands. He could have went in for an easy dunk, but tossed the ball ahead to Oladipo for the layup to give Westbrook his 10th assist.
That was enough to put the game away.
Oklahoma City won the rebound battle 51-35.
Much of the first half was all about Oladipo, Adams and the Thunder reserves. Especially Cameron Payne, who scored a season-high 10 points in his first six minutes of action.
With Oklahoma City getting only two points from Westbrook, Oklahoma City held a 41-29 lead with 9 minutes left the second quarter.
But the Cavaliers scrounged and clawed their way back into the game. James, Irving and Kevin Love all found ways to take advantage of opportunities in the halfcourt and on fastbreaks.
Cleveland led 57-55 at halftime.
After staying away from each other for much of the first half, Irving and Westbrook guarded each other throughout the third quarter. Each made plays for their teammates or seemingly scored whenever they wanted.
But once again, it was the Oklahoma City bench that took charge late in the quarter as the Thunder took an 86-82 lead into the fourth.
NOTES: After saying Wednesday that LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving "probably" would not play Thursday in Oklahoma City, Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue announced before game they all would be in the lineup. "Nothing changed," Lue said. "I said I wanted to see how guys felt. They feel pretty good. They've been playing some pretty good basketball right now. They just want to keep it rolling. All three guys say they feel pretty good. So why not keep it going?" ... Thunder coach Billy Donovan said it's a group effort when determining if Russell Westbrook needs to sit out games. "There is a collaborative effort as it relates to myself, the medical staff," Donovan said. "Russell in my opinion has a great understanding of his body. So you are always going to take his input." ... Cleveland signed F Derrick Williams to a 10-day contract Thursday and was in uniform in Oklahoma City. Williams, 25, previously played for Minnesota, Sacramento, New York and Miami.