James hits 20,000-pt Cavaliers milestone

LOS ANGELES • Cleveland superstar LeBron James became the first player to score 20,000 points in a Cavaliers jersey on Sunday, pouring in 25 in the NBA champions' 107-91 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

James added 14 rebounds and eight assists as the Cavs withstood Russell Westbrook's 24th triple-double of the season - and his first against Cleveland.

Westbrook scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out 10 assists.

But he struggled for much of the day, connecting on just seven of 26 from the field and coughing up four turnovers in the face of strong defending by Cleveland's Iman Shumpert.

James, who is eighth on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 27,938 career points, has nearly twice as many points as anyone else in a Cleveland uniform.

Cleveland's LeBron James (No. 23) gets past Oklahoma's Jerami Grant in the NBA champions' 107-91 victory on Sunday. James is the Cavs' highest scorer with 20,001 points and is eighth overall on the NBA list. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is second on the team's scoring list with 10,616 points.

James said: "I'm blessed. I've played with some great team-mates in this uniform the last three years and obviously my first seven in the league.

"Those guys set screens for me, they rebound the ball, kick it to me, they work their tails off for me to be able to put up 20,000 as a Cav."

The Dallas Mavericks ended a frustrating run in San Antonio, downing the Spurs 105-101 for their first win at the AT&T Centre since November 26, 2010.

The Mavericks, who had lost 12 straight contests in San Antonio, were led by a career-high 24 points from Seth Curry, with Harrison Barnes chipping in 19 points.

The Golden State Warriors stretched their league-leading 41-7 record with a 113-111 victory over the Trail Blazers in Portland.

Kevin Durant scored 33 points with 10 rebounds and six assists while Klay Thompson added 27 points for the Warriors, who won their third straight game and 10th in their last 11 despite the absence of star Stephen Curry, who sat out with a stomach bug.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 31, 2017, with the headline James hits 20,000-pt Cavaliers milestone. Subscribe