The Oklahoma City Thunder’s post All-Star break hangover continues.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, despite playing shorthanded, were able to come away with a relatively easy 115-92 win over the Western Conference’s third-place team.
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It was an impressive showing for the Cavaliers, who came in without Iman Shumpert due to a shoulder injury, and had Kyrie Irving play just nine minutes due to flu-like symptoms. LeBron James (25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds) and Kevin Love (29 points, 11 rebounds) would pick up the slack.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Thunder have now dropped two straight, this one following Friday’s 101-98 loss to the Indiana Pacers. After leading 28-27 to end the first quarter, the Thunder let the game slip away in the second and third quarters, being outscored 68-45 during that stretch.
But the Thunder say they aren’t worried.
"Nah, we're not concerned," Russell Westbrook said, via ESPN.com. "There's a reason why (losing is) rare. It doesn't really happen. Not a concern. We'll be back and ready to go to Dallas."
Kevin Durant (26 points) and Westbrook (20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds) were solid as usual, but only Serge Ibaka joined them in double figures.
"We're not going to go home and think it's the end of the world," he said. "We lost a game against a good team. We've got to regroup and figure out what we need to do better and move on. It's the regular season."
Studs of the night
Anthony Davis had one for the record books in Detroit on Sunday. The New Orleans Pelicans forward scored a career-high and franchise-record 59 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in a 111-106 win against the Detroit Pistons. His point total is the most scored in the NBA so far this season.
The Portland Trail Blazer's backcourt continues to do big things. Damian Lillard (30 points) and C.J. McCollum (31) combined to score 61 points as the Blazers outlasted the Utah Jazz, 115-111.
Dud of the night
The Thunder struggled offensively on Sunday and Dion Waiters didn’t do much to help out. The guard was just 1-for-8 from the field as the Thunder fell to his old team.
Tweet of the night
Chicago was Sunday's stop on the Kobe Bryant Farewell Tour. Bryant scored 22 points on 8-for-20 shooting as the Los Angeles Lakers fell 126-115 to the Chicago Bulls.
I did a video essay on Chicago’s goodbye to Kobe Bryant: https://t.co/y2jFS9u0Ha pic.twitter.com/UrljpvC4b1
— Vincent Goodwill (@vgoodwill) February 21, 2016
Looking ahead
Indiana Pacers (30-25) at Miami Heat (31-24), 7:30 p.m. ET: Just one game separates these two teams in the Eastern Conference standings. Both have won their first two games following the break, and will be looking to stretch their streak to three games.