Los Angeles (dpa) - With Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant getting healthy again, the Oklahoma City Thunder are beginning to find their rhythm.
Westbrook scored 26 points, Durant added eight of his 19 in the final two minutes Thursday, and the Thunder took advantage of LeBron James' absence
to snap the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers' season-high eight-game winning streak 103-94.
"We're growing. Every game you can see defensively, offensively we are starting to catch a stride," Durant said. "We just have to continue it."
Since the return of All-Stars Westbrook (broken right hand) and Durant (off-season foot surgery), the Thunder have won four straight games and six of the last seven following a dismal 3-12 start.
"We're just getting our rhythm back," said Westbrook, who added seven rebounds and eight assists. "We're in a hole right now but Kevin is back now so we're happy and we're healthy. We're going to come in every night take care of business and get some wins."
James, meanwhile, missed his first game of the season, after being held out for precautionary reasons because of left knee pain.
"I don't believe we have any kind of serious situation on our hands," Cavs coach David Blatt said before the game. "After the last game, he felt some soreness in the back of his knee, so we decided to hold him out. We're just being cautious."
Kyrie Irving led Cleveland (13-8) with 20 points, Kevin Love added 18 with 16 rebounds and Tristan Thompson contributed 14 and 13 boards.
"Shooting as poorly as we did (36.5 per cent) and still climbing and fighting back against a very good team, it showed us a lot," Irving said.
"Obviously, we're not too happy with a loss but there are a lot of things that we can see in the fourth quarter that showed a lot of character about our team."
The Cavs trailed by 20 just 90 seconds into the final frame but went on an 18-4 run to pull within 95-91 on a Thompson tip-in with two minutes left to play.
However, Durant came big. The reigning league most valuable player reeled of all eight of his team's final points, with a driving dunk, fadeaway jumper, two free throws and a layup, to seal the win in front of the sold out Chesapake Energy Arena crowd.
"That's what he does. That's why he is the MVP," Westbrook added. "He does it every night. Tonight you can see he's getting his rhythm back and he closed the game for us."
Elsewhere:
- Houston Rockets 113, Sacramento Kings 109 (OT): League top scorer James Harden's triple sent the game into overtime, then he added 12 of his season-high 44 points in the extra session, including a pair of game-sealing free throws with 7.1 seconds left, rallying the visiting Rockets over the Kings.
Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza had 15 points apiece for Houston (17-5) who made 15-of-44 from behind the arc en route to an eighth win in the last 10 games.
Darren Collison netted 24, Ben McLemore added 21 for Sacramento (11-12), who coughed up a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and fell for the seventh time in the last nine games.
Westbrook scored 26 points, Durant added eight of his 19 in the final two minutes Thursday, and the Thunder took advantage of LeBron James' absence
to snap the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers' season-high eight-game winning streak 103-94.
"We're growing. Every game you can see defensively, offensively we are starting to catch a stride," Durant said. "We just have to continue it."
Since the return of All-Stars Westbrook (broken right hand) and Durant (off-season foot surgery), the Thunder have won four straight games and six of the last seven following a dismal 3-12 start.
"We're just getting our rhythm back," said Westbrook, who added seven rebounds and eight assists. "We're in a hole right now but Kevin is back now so we're happy and we're healthy. We're going to come in every night take care of business and get some wins."
James, meanwhile, missed his first game of the season, after being held out for precautionary reasons because of left knee pain.
"I don't believe we have any kind of serious situation on our hands," Cavs coach David Blatt said before the game. "After the last game, he felt some soreness in the back of his knee, so we decided to hold him out. We're just being cautious."
Kyrie Irving led Cleveland (13-8) with 20 points, Kevin Love added 18 with 16 rebounds and Tristan Thompson contributed 14 and 13 boards.
"Shooting as poorly as we did (36.5 per cent) and still climbing and fighting back against a very good team, it showed us a lot," Irving said.
"Obviously, we're not too happy with a loss but there are a lot of things that we can see in the fourth quarter that showed a lot of character about our team."
The Cavs trailed by 20 just 90 seconds into the final frame but went on an 18-4 run to pull within 95-91 on a Thompson tip-in with two minutes left to play.
However, Durant came big. The reigning league most valuable player reeled of all eight of his team's final points, with a driving dunk, fadeaway jumper, two free throws and a layup, to seal the win in front of the sold out Chesapake Energy Arena crowd.
"That's what he does. That's why he is the MVP," Westbrook added. "He does it every night. Tonight you can see he's getting his rhythm back and he closed the game for us."
Elsewhere:
- Houston Rockets 113, Sacramento Kings 109 (OT): League top scorer James Harden's triple sent the game into overtime, then he added 12 of his season-high 44 points in the extra session, including a pair of game-sealing free throws with 7.1 seconds left, rallying the visiting Rockets over the Kings.
Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza had 15 points apiece for Houston (17-5) who made 15-of-44 from behind the arc en route to an eighth win in the last 10 games.
Darren Collison netted 24, Ben McLemore added 21 for Sacramento (11-12), who coughed up a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and fell for the seventh time in the last nine games.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire