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Westbrook, Durant power Thunder over streaking Cavs

Dec 12, 2014 - 5:53 AM Oklahoma City, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined to score 45 points with 13 assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 103-94 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.

In what would have been a matchup of the last two NBA MVPs, Durant was the only one to play as Cleveland's LeBron James sat out with left knee discomfort.

Westbrook paced the Thunder with 26 points to go along with eight assists and Durant's 19 points helped close out their fourth straight win.

"Russell, that's the thing, he is so good offensively, but he is also a great defender," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

Kyrie Irving had to pick up the slack with James on the bench and he accounted for 20 points on 7-of-21 shooting.

Kevin Love netted 18 points with 16 rebounds for the Cavs, who had their eight-game winning streak halted.

"We have guys on this team with incredible motors," said Love. "We could have put together a better shooting night, but the good thing is we got another one tomorrow."

Oklahoma City opened the fourth just where it left off the third. Reggie Jackson scored the quarter's first five points and Anthony Morrow knocked down a triple to stake the hosts to an 86-66 margin with 10:24 to play.

Cleveland didn't falter, however, as Anderson Varejao's five points led a 7-0 charge that brought the visitors back to within 10, 91-81, with 5:47 left. Tristan Thompson then made it a four-point game on his tip-in off an Irving miss.

Irving got caught on a switch on the Thunder's ensuing possession and Durant finished the play with a dunk over Love. Durant proceeded to pick Irving's pocket the next time down the floor and essentially sealed it with a jumper that extended the margin to 99-91 with 1:17 left.

Love's 3-pointer tied the score at 57-57 with just under 6 1/2 minutes left in the third. That's about the time of the game that Oklahoma City locked down on defense and opened the game up entering the fourth.

Westbrook followed Love's trey with a layup that ignited a 10-0 run. Serge Ibaka and Morrow each netted 3-pointers during the run that Westbrook capped with a pair of free throws.

Cleveland managed just nine points over the final six-plus minutes as Durant's 3 preceded Dion Waiters' layup in the closing seconds, and the Thunder held a 78-66 advantage after three.

Early in the first, the Thunder took their first lead of the game on a Westbrook jumper. Cleveland then went on a 13-2 run that Waiters capped with a 3-pointer for an 18-8 lead with 5:01 left.

The Cavs led 26-18 after the first quarter, but Oklahoma City managed to tie the game at 47-47 by halftime.

Game Notes

OKC is 4-1 since Durant's return from offseason foot surgery ... Matthew Dellavedova, Waiters and Thompson each scored 14 points in the setback. Thompson pulled down 13 rebounds ... Cleveland was limited to 36.5 percent shooting ... The Thunder held a 48-28 edge in the paint ... Jackson scored 13 points and Morrow added 11 in the win.