Cavaliers 104, Thunder 100
CLEVELAND -- Forward LeBron James scored 33 points, passed for 11 assists and grabbed nine rebounds, and the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers twice rallied from double-digit deficits to beat the Oklahoma City 104-100 Thursday, ending the Thunder's six-game winning streak.
Center Tristan Thompson had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavs, including 11 offensive rebounds. Four of those offensive boards came in the fourth quarter.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook had 27 points and 10 assists, and forward Kevin Durant scored 25 points, but both stars missed potential game-tying 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds.
The game was delayed with 3:07 to play after James collided with a courtside fan while diving after a loose ball. The injured woman, Ellie Day, was taken out on a stretcher and was accompanied by her husband, PGA Tour golfer Jason Day.
Play continued while the Ellie Day was attended to, and James stopped over to check on her during the first stoppage following the collision. She was wheeled out of the arena while players from both teams stood and watched during the timeout.
Cavs forward Kevin Love didn't make much of an impact until the fourth quarter, when his rare four-point play tied the game at 78 and his full-court, football style pass to James led to a three-point play that gave Cleveland an 81-78 lead.
Love jogged to the sideline after completing the pass and slapped hands with Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who had a courtside view of the game. Love finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Thunder was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a blowout home win Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers, while the Cavs were without three of their top guards: Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert and Mo Williams.
Shumpert sat with a groin injury sustained during Tuesday's win at the Boston Celtics, while Williams sprained his thumb in the same game. Earlier in the week, there was thought to be a chance Irving could make his season debut against the Thunder, but it remains likely he will return Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Cavs ripped off 14 points in three minutes to pull back into a game they trailed by double figures in the second quarter. In all, they scored 18 consecutive points in the second quarter to turn a 12-point deficit into a 46-40 lead after the Thunder went scoreless for nearly five minutes.
But it didn't last. Durant, forward Serge Ibaka and center Enes Kanter combined for the final seven points of the quarter and the Thunder took a 47-46 lead into the half.
NOTES: Cavs G Iman Shumpert, who did not play because of a groin injury, delivered his daughter early Wednesday morning in the bathroom floor of his house. His fiancee, Teyana Taylor, wrote on her Instagram account that she didn't know she was in labor until she felt the baby's head. Shumpert tied headphones around the umbilical cord until paramedics arrived. The couple named their daughter Iman Tayla Shumpert Jr. ... The Cavs began the night 30-2 in their last 32 home games. ... Thunder coach Billy Donovan first saw Cavs F LeBron James play on the AAU circuit prior to James' junior year of high school. "Clearly he was, by far, the best player in the country, never mind on his AAU team," Donovan said. ... Thunder G Anthony Morrow missed the game due to a personal matter.