The Oklahoma City Thunder will meet the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James' old team, in an NBA free live-streaming online game, from Quicken Loans Arena at 7:00 PM ET
As the Thunder begin another back-to-back set, coach Scott Brooks may stick to his plan of keeping Russell Westbrook from playing in some of those situations.
With a matchup at Toronto the following evening, the Thunder might decide to rest the star guard Thursday night when they visit the Cavs, tonight.
Brooks hasn't played Westbrook for more than 31 minutes in the past 11 games since he returned from another knee surgery. The coach also said last week that he would rest the three-time All-Star occasionally in the wake of that procedure -- his third since injuring the knee in April during the playoffs.
The Mavericks and Bulls games were the first of three back-to-backs on the Oklahoma City schedule by next Tuesday. The second begins with a favorable road matchup against the short-handed Cavaliers (26-42) before a visit to first-place Toronto on Friday.
Kevin Durant scored 35.0 per game -- 3.2 more than his league-high average -- during Westbrook's recent 27-game absence. He also had 30 points against the Mavericks before finishing with 35 and 12 rebounds in Monday's win.
Durant has scored 25 or more in 32 consecutive games, the longest such streak since Michael Jordan did it in 40 straight in 1986-87.
"I just go out there and ... play to win," Durant said. "If all that stuff comes with it, then that's cool."
The All-Star forward had 28 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists while Westbrook scored 24 with nine assists, but the Thunder lost 114-104 at home to the Cavaliers on Feb. 26.
Kyrie Irving led the way with 31 points and nine assists in that game, but the All-Star guard is expected to miss two weeks due to a strained biceps tendon.
With a 4-9 mark in their last 13, the Cavaliers have fallen six games behind Atlanta for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Now they'll try to avoid losing four straight at home for the first time all season.
Oklahoma City has dropped six of the last seven meetings in Cleveland.
The game will live stream online free at www.nbalivestreamfree.net
