LeBron James (No 23) of the Cleveland Cavaliers dives for a loose ball as Kyle Singler (C) of the Oklahoma City Thunder look on during the second half of their NBA game at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)

DPA/Los Angeles


Minutes after crashing into a courtside fan, LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers knocked off another quality opponent.   
James collected 33 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists on Thursday, and the Cavs cooled off the Oklahoma City Thunder’s six-game winning streak, 104-100.
James stepped up in the absence of guards Mo Williams, Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving.
“You do whatever it takes to help your team win,” James said. “With us being short-handed, I knew I had to pick it up in all facets of the game.”
With 3:07 left to play, James accidentally ploughed into the wife of PGA champion Jason Day while chasing down a ball headed out of bounds.
Unable to brace herself from the 2-metre, 118-kg James, Ellie Day fell backwards in her chair and landed on her head.
She stayed down for several minutes before being attended by medical personnel, and was taken out of Quicken Loans Arena on a stretcher with her head in a brace to a nearby hospital for overnight observation.  
James went over to check on her during a stoppage of play.
“Obviously, her health is very important and the guys tell me she’s doing great now,” he said. “I was going for a loose ball and tried to keep the possession going.”
Richard Jefferson scored 13 points and fellow-reserve Tristan Thompson had 12 with a game-high 15 boards for the Eastern Conference-best Cavs (17-7), who improved to 31-2 at home since mid-January.
“We have to protect our home court,” said Cavs forward Kevin Love, following an 11-point, seven-rebound outing. “It wasn’t pretty but we were able to withstand their push in the fourth quarter.”
Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City (17-9) with 27 points, Kevin Durant added 25 and Serge Ibaka contributed 23.  
“We put ourselves in a position to win the game,” Westbrook said. “We just got to close them out.”
In a game of runs, the Cavs fell behind by eight but went on a 20-4 tear bridging the third and fourth quarters to go ahead 90-80 with eight minutes left to play.  The Thunder wasn’t through yet.
Trailing 103-95, Westbrook hit a jumper and 3-pointer to pull OKC to within three. Durant had a shot to knot the contest but missed a triple with eight seconds left.
The Thunder recovered the ball and Westbrook bounced another potential game-tying 3-pointer off the lip of the rim out of a timeout. James grabbed the rebound and his free throw with seven-tenths of a second left sealed the win.      

Harden helps Rockets soar over stumbling Lakers
Guard James Harden had 25 points, six rebounds and six assists, leading the Houston Rockets to a 107-87 romp over the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Thursday.
Center Dwight Howard scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds despite experiencing foul trouble throughout the contest.
Forward Terrence Jones had 16 points and forward Trevor Ariza and guard Patrick Beverley chipped in 13 apiece as the Rockets (13-14) ended a two-game slide. They also defeated Los Angeles for the fifth consecutive time at Staples.
Forward Kobe Bryant scored 22 points and had eight rebounds for the Lakers (4-22), who lost seven of their last eight. Forward Julius Randle had 18 points and 10 boards, while guard Lou Williams contributed 14 points.
Randle’s layup pulled Los Angeles within 81-76 less than three minutes into the fourth quarter but an 11-0 run by Houston gave the visitors a 16-point lead. The Lakers never recovered.
The Lakers resorted to intentionally fouling Howard with 5:21 left in the contest but the center converted seven-of-12 free throws.
The Rockets led 52-39 at the break. They limited the Lakers to 34.8 percent shooting while hitting 40.9 percent of their shots.
Houston also had the edge in three-pointers, making six-of-12 attempts (50 percent) to three-of-12 (25 percent) for the Lakers.
Overall, the Lakers out-shot the Rockets 42.9 percent to 38.6 percent.
Bryant provided some crowd-pleasing moments in the third quarter. He had Laker fans roaring and on their feet after he drove the lane and slammed a dunk over forward Clint Capela.
He followed with a baseline jumper to cut the Rockets’ advantage 55-48 at 8:49 of the third.
Bryant scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the quarter but the Rockets took a 78-68 lead heading into the final frame.
It was Houston’s second win over the Lakers within the past five days. The Rockets coasted to a 126-97 rout on December 12
Elsewhere: Charlotte Hornets 109, Toronto Raptors 99 (oneOT): Jeremy Lin dropped in a season-high 35 points, and PJ Hairston buried the go-ahead triple with 90 seconds remaining in overtime to trigger a 13-3 closing kick as the Hornets ran out from the visiting Raptors.  Kemba Walker had 27 for Charlotte (15-10), which regrouped after blowing a 16-point third-quarter cushion.
DeMar DeRozan netted 31 points and Kyle Lowry had 20 to pace Toronto (16-11), while Bismack Biyombo added eight with a 18 rebounds and seven blocked shots against his former club.