Cavaliers steal Oklahoma City's Thunder 104-100
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
There were storylines a plenty in Thursday night’s marquee matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Both teams entered the contest with two of the top four records in the NBA, while former Cavs guard Dion Waiters returned as a member of the visiting team to the city that drafted him. However, the head-to-head matchup between LeBron James and Kevin Durant was the most appetizing morsel on Thursday’s plate.
Both players battled back and forth over the course of three quarters, but James’ superb play in the fourth helped Cleveland secure a 104-100 victory over Oklahoma City in Quicken Loans Arena.
“Each time that we went down eight, ten points, we never let them get away from us,” Cavs head coach David Blatt said. “I thought perhaps the last time that we came back from the eight or ten sort of put some doubt in their mind because they had us a few times and we didn’t break.”
James and Durant didn’t waste any time getting their duel underway. Durant sank the game’s opening bucket, a straightaway three-pointer with James’ hand in his face. James immediately answered Durant’s shot with a three-pointer of his own, and the showdown was on. By the time the first quarter ended, James had totaled nine points while Durant slightly bested him with 14 points before the second quarter ever began. The clash continued to the fourth quarter as Oklahoma City (17-9) held a slim 78-74 lead after three periods.
While a single point separated James and Durant heading into the fourth quarter, James put his stamp on the game in the final frame to help extend Cleveland’s winning streak to four games. James’ fourth quarter stat line would have been a solid outing for an entire game for the average NBA player. But James is far from ordinary, totaling 11 points, three rebounds and five assists in the fourth quarter alone.
Oklahoma City trailed Cleveland 103-100 with 10 seconds to play and the ball in Durant’s hands. The six-foot-nine sharpshooter hoisted a three-pointer with eight seconds remaining, attempting to tie the game. However, James contested the shot well enough to force the miss. Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook had another chance to tie the game seconds later, but his three-point attempt skidded off the rim and James secured the rebound. The Cavs small forward converted one of two free throws in the final seconds to ice the game.
“They made 12 threes,” Durant said. “That’s the game. Sometimes, you over-help. Sometimes we didn’t need to help and they’d just get wide open shots.
“They made threes and they got offensive rebounds. That’s the name of the game.”
James finished the night one rebound shy of a triple-double, totaling a game-high 33 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists. Thursday’s contest was the ninth straight game James has reached at least 24 points. Durant finished with 25 points, but the 2014 MVP managed to score just four points in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland (17-7) needed every bit of James’ effort against Oklahoma City as the Cavs were without three of their top backcourt players. Mo Williams missed the matchup with a thumb injury, Iman Shumpert has a strained right groin and Kyrie Irving has yet to play a game this season as he continues to recover from a fractured kneecap. James knew it would be tough to top Durant and the Thunder because of the injuries that continue to plague the Cavs.
“I have to do whatever it takes to help our team win,” James said. “Us being short-handed tonight, I knew I was going to have to pick it up in a lot of the facets of the game, but we got contributions from everybody.”
While recent reports have said that Irving is close to returning to Cleveland’s lineup, it would be understandable if the Cavs didn’t want his first game back to be against the basketball assassin that is Russell Westbrook. Blatt, however, refuted that notion.
“Not at all,” he said. “We also have been pretty consistent about wanting to put Kyrie back on the floor when he’s ready, and we still have some steps to go through before we’re confident that he’s ready. When we get to that point, then we’ll put him out there regardless of what team we’re playing.”
While the James versus Durant battle was the headliner, basketball fans missed the possibility of a compelling Irving and Westbrook duel. Westbrook didn’t disappoint Thursday as the electric point guard finished with a team-high 27 points, three rebounds and 10 assists. Waiters finished with four points in 21 minutes.
“We’ve just been playing ball,” James said. “Our motto is next man up. There’s no excuses around here.
“Whoever’s in the lineup, guys are ready to go. Delly’s been playing great. Until Mo got hurt last game, he has and the young fella J.C. (Jared Cunningham) been coming in and playing great at the guard spot too.”
Cavs power forward Tristan Thompson entered the night leading all NBA reserves in rebounds per game (9.1), and he only increased that total with his performance Thursday night. Thompson recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds off the Cavs bench.
“He played his game tonight,” James said of Thompson. “He was physical at the point of attack. He got us second possessions and we needed all of them.”
While it was one of the more entertaining games the Cavs have been a part of this season, there was a scary moment in the fourth quarter involving James and the wife of pro golfer Jason Day. Day and his wife sat courtside for the contest and as James saved a ball from going out of bounds with five minutes remaining in the fourth, he fell into the crowd and landed on Day’s wife. Day’s wife, Ellie, was taken off the court on a stretcher and to a local hospital.
“Obviously, her health is very important,” James said. “Hopefully, she’s doing well — The guys told us that she’s doing great now. (I was) just going for a loose ball, just trying to keep the possession going and hate that that was the end result of it.”
Updates pertaining to Ellie Day’s status should come throughout the night.
Since Jan. 19 of last season, the Cavs hold a 31-2 regular season record at The Q, including an 11-1 mark at home this season. With Thursday’s victory, James now holds a 16-4 head-to-head advantage over Durant when their teams face off. The Cavs and Thunder meet for the second and final time in the regular season on Feb. 21 in Oklahoma City.
POSTED 12/18/2015 01:32
Lake County Sentinel
