James tops 20K points in Cavaliers' jersey in win over Thunder
CLEVELAND -- LeBron James scored 25 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and became the first player to score 20,000 points in a Cavaliers uniform in Cleveland's 107-91 victory Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Russell Westbrook had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his 24th triple-double of the season and first of his career against Cleveland, but he struggled most of the day. Westbrook shot 7 of 26 from the field and committed four turnovers while being guarded most of the day by Iman Shumpert.
The Cavaliers led by as many as 19 in the third quarter, but the Thunder pulled within 82-75 on a 3-pointer from Cameron Payne while Westbrook rested during the fourth quarter. After Westbrook re-entered, the Thunder went scoreless on their next six possessions.
A driving layup from Cleveland's Richard Jefferson pushed the lead back to double figures and Kyrie Irving's 3-pointer stretched the lead back to 98-82 with 3:57 left.
Irving scored 29 points and passed for 10 assists on a day the Cavs were essentially without Kevin Love, who departed after playing less than two minutes in the second quarter with back spasms and did not return. Love missed all four of the shots he took and scored just one point, although he grabbed eight rebounds in 12 minutes.
Westbrook, who is averaging a triple-double, shot 1 of 6 from 3-point range and the Thunder shot 24 percent from deep (6 of 25). They missed their first 12 3s and shot just 37 percent overall on the day.
Victor Oladipo scored 17 points, Joffrey Lauvergne scored 13 points off the bench and Steven Adams grabbed 10 rebounds for the Thunder, whose three-game winning streak ended.
Tristan Thompson scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Shumpert scored 16 points for the Cavs, who have won consecutive games after losing six of their previous eight.
James, who is eighth on the NBA's all-time scoring list with nearly 27,938 career points, has nearly twice as many points as anyone else in a Cavs' uniform. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is second on the team's scoring list with 10,616 points.
NOTES: Coach Billy Donovan said the Thunder will have to find new ways to create offense now that key reserve C Enes Kanter could miss two months with a fractured forearm. "(Kanter) generated it though himself by low-post scoring. He could make a jump shot. He created floor spacing sometimes where we could have him shoot 3s. As time goes on we'll find out more about our team and different things we need to do." ... Kanter departs ranked third on the team in scoring (14.4) and rebounding (6.7). ... Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue was an assistant with the Celtics when Kyrie Irving was a rookie. Lue said he always got excited to cut up film with the Cavs because of Irving. "We couldn't wait to see what Kyrie did with the basketball and the moves we made, how impressed we were with the moves he made on the floor," Lue said.