Thunderous Intentions
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OKC Thunder outrun Cleveland Cavaliers for important victory

By Rich Condon

Feb 9, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a play against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 9, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a play against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 9, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket in front of Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 9, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket in front of Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

The OKC Thunder defeated the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers 118-109 at the Peake on Thursday night.

Shocker,  the OKC Thunder were led by Russell Westbrook, who notched his 26th triple-double of the season with 29 points (11-27 from the field, 2-6 from deep), 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Westbrook got off to a bit of a slow start from the field and he didn’t score until about halfway through the second quarter.

Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo both put up 20 and 23 points, respectively. Adams had a double-double adding 13 rebounds as well. His array of low post moves is growing as the season goes on. Cameron Payne was the only other OKC player to score in double digits, with 15 points off the bench on 6-12 shooting.

149. Final. 109. 156. 118

Andre Roberson led the team in minutes with 41, and his defense on Lebron James was exceptional for most of the evening. Lebron led all scorers with 16 points going into the second half; he finished the game with 18.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavs with 28 points. Tristian Thompson and Kevin Love combined for 25 points. Derrick Williams made his Cleveland debut this evening, scoring 12 points on a perfect 3-3 from the floor in 22 minutes off the bench.

Must Read: Five stats that correlate to Thunder wins and losses

Coming into the game, there was talk that Cleveland Head Coach Ty Lue was going to rest Lebron, Kyrie, and Kevin Love. This was due to tonight being the second half of a back-to-back series for Cleveland. In addition, it was their third game in four nights. Logically, Billy Donovan planned on taking advantage of that fatigue.  Therefore, the Thunder ran the floor as often as they could.

OKC also forced 16 Cleveland turnovers, outrebounded the Cavs 51-35, and took 27 more shots. They entered the 3rd quarter down two.

Normally this would spell trouble for the Thunder as they are 25th in the NBA in scoring during the 3rd frame. However, OKC, led by Westbrook’s 11 points in the third, outscored Cleveland by 6 in the 3rd.

Despite Cleveland not being anywhere near their best tonight (when’s the last time you saw LeBron miss two dunks),

This was a quality win for the OKC Thunder. The Thunder improve to 31-23 on the season with the win.

As a result, OKC remains firmly entrenched in the 7th seed in the Western Conference. For the Cavaliers this was their seventh road loss in nine Western Conference Games.

More from Thunderous Intentions

The Thunder have tomorrow off. We all know who’s coming to town on Saturday.  And make sure you join the Thunderous Intentions team as live blog before, during and after the big game. Get your popcorn ready.

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