Postgame: Cavs Top Westbrook and the Thunder 107-91

The Cavaliers resembled a contender for the first time in quite awhile on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. After struggling early on, the Cavs rode a 15-2 run in the 2nd quarter to create a 13 point halftime lead, which they did not look back from before winning 107-91. The Cavaliers were given double-doubles from both Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. Irving finished with 29 points and 10 assists, while James totaled 25 points and 14 rebounds. Tristan Thompson had his best game of the season with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Russell Westbrook had another triple-double for the Thunder with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Some scribbles from Sunday’s 107-91 win over OKC:

• In the first quarter it seemed as if the Cavaliers weren’t interested in playing much better than they recently have. That changed in the second period. After trailing 24-21 following the first, the Cavs took a 13 point lead into the locker room at halftime. This lead was created after the team finished the half on a 15-2 run.
• It seems as if the Cavs have finally gotten what they expected out of Iman Shumpert when they traded for him in January of 2015. Shumpert has legitimately developed into the ‘three and D’ guy Cleveland expected him to be. He had 16 points largely thanks to five makes from behind the arc on the day. Shumpert is having his best year as a Cavalier.
• Kevin Love did not return to the game after halftime with back spasms. Love has been dealing with this back issue for the past 10 or so days. He will not travel with the team to Dallas for Monday’s game against the Mavericks. He had one point and eight rebounds in just over 12 minutes against the Thunder.
• This was only the second game since the calendar flipped to 2017 that the Cavaliers held their opponent to under 100 points. The other was against New Orleans on January 2nd.
• The Cavaliers will be in action again in Dallas on Monday night.
• Cleveland improves to 32-14 on the season, and 3-1 in their Orange HWC uniforms.