Thunder take down Cleveland in star-studded NBA showdown

Led by 40 points from star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 134-114 on Thursday to catch them at the top of the NBA standings.

The Thunder, leaders of the Western Conference, now have 34 wins and six losses, the same record as the Cavaliers, the leaders of the East.

Pushed by their home crowd, Oklahoma City played suffocating defense, and its offense moved to the rhythm of Gilgeous-Alexander, who continues to underpin his candidacy for MVP.

The Canadian point guard, top scorer of the season (31.6 points per game), scored 40 points on 17-26 shooting (65%) and also added 8 assists in just 29 minutes of play.

In an expected rematch of last week's duel, in which Cleveland prevailed, the Thunder took command early with a spectacular 22-2 run at the close of the first quarter commanded by Gilgeous-Alexander, who went to the first break with more points than all the Cavaliers combined (15 to 14).

With SGA taking a breather on the bench, the Thunder did not let up and increased the run to 30-2 to take an already decisive 26-point lead midway through the second quarter.

Cleveland found no answer to the siege and doomed itself by committing a total of 21 turnovers, to 6 by its rival.

This time, the East leaders could not overcome another gray night from their leader, Donovan Mitchell.

While the shooting guard was held to 11 points (3-16) in the last loss to the Thunder, this time he was even less effective, with just 8 points (3-15).

Point guard Darius Garland, with 20 points, was the only Cleveland player who kept his level, as centers Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley had just 13 and 5 points, respectively.

The home team was up at halftime 75-49 and put their foot back on the gas in the third quarter, outscoring Cleveland 44-32 after halftime before the coaches withdrew their starters and the Cavaliers made up the score.

Turner and Booker shine

In other clashes on Thursday, the Indiana Pacers stopped the surprisingly good run of the Detroit Pistons by beating them 111-100.

Center Myles Turner had a brilliant performance with 28 points and 8 three-pointers on 11 attempts for Indiana.

Cameroonian forward Pascal Siakam scored 26 points for the Pacers, while Detroit's star point guard Cade Cunningham had 20.

The Phoenix Suns won 130-123 at the Washington Wizards, the worst team of the season, with 37 points from Devin Booker and another 23 from Kevin Durant.

In the day's finale, the Sacramento Kings ended the Houston Rockets' streak of five straight wins by beating them 132-127 with 31 points from DeMar DeRozan, while the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 118-89 with 23 points from Norman Powell.

Thursday's NBA scores

Detroit Pistons - Indiana Pacers 100-111

Washington Wizards - Phoenix Suns 123-130

Oklahoma City Thunder - Cleveland Cavaliers 134-114

Portland Trail Blazers - Los Angeles Clippers 89-118

Sacramento Kings - Houston Rockets 132-127