Balanced Effort Helps Thunder Outduel Cavaliers

As he continues to work his way back into the lineup, Russell Westbrook sat the first game of a back-to-back on Thursday night in Cleveland. 

Fortunately for the Thunder, plenty of guys chipped in to picked up the slack. 

Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 35 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Thunder held on for a 102-95 win over the Cavaliers.

OKC trailed 25-21 after the first quarter, but did its damage in the second.  The Thunder outscored Cleveland 35-21 in the second and seized a 56-46 lead at the half.  OKC extended its lead to 17 by the end of the third, and held off a late Cleveland surge to win it. 

Reggie Jackson gave a solid performance while starting in the place of Westbrook. Jackson dished out six assists to go with 13 points.  He also grabbed four boards. 

The Thunder bench also stepped up, with three guys combining for 30 points.  Derek Fisher scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting and 3-6 from behind the arc. Jeremy Lamb added 10 points on 4-10 shooting in 26 minutes.  Caron Butler added eight points and five rebounds. 

Dion Waiters led Cleveland with 30 points, while Spencer Hawes finished with 20.  Matthew Dellavedova added 11 points and 10 assists off the Cavs' bench.

The Thunder outrebounded Cleveland 53-36.

Oklahoma City (50-18) heads to Toronto to face the Raptors on Friday night.  The win pulls the Thunder back within 1.5 games of San Antonio for the West's No. 1 seed.