The Cleveland Cavaliers have overcome a slow start to surge to the top of the Central Division, and the now-healthy Oklahoma City Thunder hope to follow their lead. The Cavaliers put their eight-game winning streak on the line when they travel to Oklahoma City on Thursday. The Thunder are aiming for their fourth straight win and their sixth in seven games.
The Thunder are trying to make up ground in the loaded Western Conference after a 3-12 start while playing without stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. "We're still trying to work things out," Durant told reporters. "I'm sure a lot of people are expecting us to be back to playoff-type basketball right now, but we're just like any other team, just trying to continue to just build and keep getting better." The Cavs seem to have solved their early-season issues, as they rallied from a 14-point deficit to edge Eastern Conference-leading Toronto 105-101 on Tuesday for their eighth straight victory following a 5-7 start.
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ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (13-7): A big reason for Cleveland's improvement has been the increased role for power forward Kevin Love (17.4 points, 10 rebounds), who has recorded double-doubles in five of the past six games. Love's reemergence at the offensive end gives the Cavs a formidable trio along with LeBron James (24.8 points, 7.7 assists, 5.5 rebounds) and Kyrie Irving (20.8 points, 5.1 assists). Love's presence in the post also seems to have rejuvenated center Anderson Varejao's offensive game, as the veteran is averaging 10.1 points and 6.9 rebounds after a down year last season.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (8-13): Oklahoma City is beginning to look like itself again with Durant (22 points, 5.5 rebounds, four assists) and Westbrook (24.3 points, 6.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds) back in the mix, and the Thunder put up a season-high for points in Tuesday's 114-101 win over Milwaukee. The Thunder have averaged 103.2 points on 46.7 percent shooting over their past six games after putting up 89.6 points on 41.6 percent shooting during their 3-12 start. Jeremy Lamb (12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds) has seen an uptick in his production since getting the two stars back, averaging 13.7 points over the past six contests while going 12-of-18 from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cleveland has won 11 straight games when topping 100 points and is 12-1 this season when hitting triple digits.
2. Westbrook has recorded at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in five straight games, the longest streak of his career.
3. James averages 29.4 points in 20 regular-season meetings with the Thunder while Irving has topped 30 points in each of his past two games against Oklahoma City.