Oklahoma City, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined to score 45 points with 13 assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 103-94 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. In what would have been a matchup of the last two NBA MVPs, Durant was the only one to play as Clevelands LeBron James sat out with left knee discomfort. Westbrook paced the Thunder with 26 points to go along with eight assists and Durants 19 points helped close out their fourth straight win. Kyrie Irving had to pick up the slack with James on the bench and he accounted for 20 points on 7-of-21 shooting. Kevin Love netted 18 points with 16 rebounds for the Cavs, who had their eight-game winning streak halted. Oklahoma City opened the fourth just where it left off the third. Reggie Jackson scored the quarters first five points and Anthony Morrow knocked down a triple to stake the hosts to an 86-66 margin with 10:24 to play. Cleveland didnt falter, however, as Anderson Varejaos five points led a 7-0 charge that brought the visitors back to within 10, 91-81, with 5:47 left. Tristan Thompson then made it a four-point game on his tip-in off an Irving miss. Irving got caught on a switch on the Thunders ensuing possession and Durant finished the play with a dunk over Love. Durant proceeded to pick Irvings pocket the next time down the floor and essentially sealed it with a jumper that extended the margin to 99-91 with 1:17 left. Loves 3-pointer tied the score at 57-57 with just under 6 1/2 minutes left in the third. Thats about the time of the game that Oklahoma City locked down on defense and opened the game up entering the fourth. Westbrook followed Loves trey with a layup that ignited a 10-0 run. Serge Ibaka and Morrow each netted 3-pointers during the run that Westbrook capped with a pair of free throws. Cleveland managed just nine points over the final six-plus minutes as Durants 3 preceded Dion Waiters layup in the closing seconds, and the Thunder held a 78-66 advantage after three. Early in the first, the Thunder took their first lead of the game on a Westbrook jumper. Cleveland then went on a 13-2 run that Waiters capped with a 3-pointer for an 18-8 lead with 5:01 left. The Cavs led 26-18 after the first quarter, but Oklahoma City managed to tie the game at 47-47 by halftime. Game Notes OKC is 4-1 since Durants return from offseason foot surgery ... Matthew Dellavedova, Waiters and Thompson each scored 14 points in the setback. Thompson pulled down 13 rebounds ... Cleveland was limited to 36.5 percent shooting ... The Thunder held a 48-28 edge in the paint ... Jackson scored 13 points and Morrow added 11 in the win. Ben Poquette Jersey .Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times. Thurl Bailey Jersey .Y. Islanders 4Winnipeg 5 Dallas 2Nashville 3 Colorado 0San Jose 5 Edmonton 2---AHLProvidence 5 St. Johns 4 (OT)Chicago 6 San Antonio 2---NBACleveland 105 Toronto 101Portland 98 Detroit 86New Orleans 104 New York 93Oklahoma City 114 Milwaukee 101Memphis 114 Dallas 105Miami 103 Phoenix 97Utah 100 San Antonio 96L. https://www.cheapjazzonline.com/268e-mark-eaton-jersey-jazz.html . He chirped to the caddie of Brandt Snedeker about their money game, a Mickelson tradition at the majors. Lefty was in good spirits Monday at the British Open, except for having to return the claret jug. Utah Jazz Pro Shop . A rainy day saw the former champion Djokovic handle 14th-seeded Frenchman Jo- Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) under the roof on the famed Centre Court. Jeff Hornacek Jersey .com) - The Denver Nuggets snapped a losing streak last time out and will try to carry that momentum Saturday night when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to the Pepsi Center.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry,Absolutely love your column and love your answers. My question is in the Tuesday night game of Red Wings v. Blue Jackets, Cam Atkinson clearly scored Columbus third goal after the net was dislodged. Im confused how the referees were able to decide that the goal was scored before the net came off when it seemed to clearly come off before the goal crossed the line. Im just wondering how the refs came to their conclusion and if it was correct.Thanks Kerry,Jacob Messing Hi Ref,How can a player score when the net is clearly off the mooring> When the net is off the moorings you cant allow a goal. Maybe get a penalty for moving the net, but no goal. Obviously that was the wrong call, and could mean a missed playoff. Are Referees demoted from the playoffs for these terrible calls? Thanks for your answer.Jim Carmody Jacob and Jim:Thank you for your questions on this unique situation that caused many fans to scratch their heads in amazement as to how a goal can be scored with the net clearly off the moorings. I have two personal experiences to share with you that resulted in the formulation and eventual amendment of rule 63.6 which I hope will clear up any confusion. It was under this specific rule that Referee Chris Rooney correctly awarded a goal to Cam Atkinson of the Columbus Blue Jackets after Atkinsons body contacted the post and knocked off its moorings. I provide you with the history of the rule and the correct application. Rule 63.6—In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal. In order to award a goal in this situation, the goal post must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player, the puck must have been shot (or the player must be in the act of shooting) at the goal prior to the goal post being displaced, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts. Now for your first history lesson as to how this rule came about. In the mid 1980s I was assigned to work a game in the St. Louis Arena between the Blues and the Edmonton Oilers. On a particular shift the Oiler stars were sustaining incredible pressure in the Blues end zone. It looked like a shooting gallery against Blues goalkeeper Mike Liut as he slid from side to side making one incredible save after another. That is until one stacked-pad-slide by Liut took the tender well outside of his goal crease. The rebound came right onto the stick of Glenn Anderson standing all alone in the middle slot. As Anderson was about to trigger a shot into the unguarded cage for a sure goal, Blues defenceman Tim Bothwell lifted the net completely off its moorings and began to skate it toward the corner of the rink! Anderson looked puzzled and continued to reposition his feet toward the moving target.ddddddddddddI blew the whistle and assessed a delay of game penalty to Bothwell. The Blues killed the penalty and a "sure goal" by Anderson had been averted. I made a rule proposal that was adopted to allow the ref to award a goal if the net was deliberately displaced by a defending player and the attacker shot the puck (or in the act of shooting) and the puck passed through the normal position of the net. The initial rule only applied when the net was "deliberately" displaced. Fast-forward to the modern day NHL and a game I worked in Vancouver between the Canucks and the Sabres. Buffalo created a two-on-one attack with the second Canuck defenceman giving chase. As the attackers approached the net the trailing D made a desperation diving poke-check attempt. The defending players out of control slide knocked the net off its moorings just prior to the shot entering the net. The sure goal had to be disallowed and no penalty could be assessed since the action of the defending player that knocked the net off the mooring was accidental. Due to the fact that a sure goal had been denied through the "actions" of a defending player in both situations (deliberate in St. Louis (80s) and accidental in Vancouver (2000s) the language of the rule was amended to include "accidentally" whenever the specific criteria of rule 63.6 was satisfied. In Tuesdays game Matt Calvert and Cam Atkinson took flight on a two-on-one break with Niklas Kronwall defending and his defence partner, Brendan Smith giving chase from behind. Jimmy Howard made a left pad save on Calverts shot but could not control or freeze the rebound. Atkinson attacked the net from the opposite side and initiated a hard stop at the top-inside of the crease with an opportunity to put the loose puck into the net for a sure goal. As Atkinson was positioning his stick to play the puck (act of shooting) Smith made physical contact with his stick and hip on Atkinson that moved the Blue Jackets player into the goal post and knocked the net off of the moorings. Some will say that the contact exerted by Smith was minimal and insufficient to knock the net off the moorings without some responsibility placed on Atkinson. The replay shows that Atkinsons momentum and forward progress was altered significantly and he accelerated from his initial stop inside the top of the crease after the contact by Smith was initiated and completed. It is also evident that Atkinson attempted to push back and stop following the contact by Smith with a second, separate spray of snow from his skate blade. Referee Chris Rooney made an excellent, quick decision when he correctly applied rule 63.6 to award the goal to Atkinson following the actions of Smith that "accidentally" caused the goal post to be displaced prior to the puck crossing the goal line. Watching this play I saw history repeated. ' ' '