Westbrook powers Thunder over Cavaliers

Russell Westbrook finished with 26 points and eight assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 103-94 win over the LeBron James-less Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.

The National Basketball Association contest was billed as a matchup of the last two NBA MVPs, but Kevin Durant was the only one to play as James sat out with a left knee problem.

Westbrook and Durant combined to score 45 points with 13 assists. Durant's 19 points helped close out their fourth straight win.

Kyrie Irving had to pick up the slack with James out and he delivered 20 points on seven-of-21 shooting.

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

Cleveland managed just nine points over the final six-plus minutes of the fourth quarter without their closer James.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com