Cleveland continues to streak

Behind LeBron James and Mo Williams, the Cavaliers beat Oklahoma City, 102-91.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — There’s a simple reason why LeBron James shifted the conversation from his anticipated free agency in 2010 to the possibility that he’d sign an extension and stay in Cleveland: The Cavaliers keep on winning.

James scored 31 points and Mo Williams provided the kind of scoring punch expected out of him when he was brought in to be LeBron’s sidekick, as Cleveland finished a four-game road trip with a 102-91 win Sunday night over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“We’re playing great basketball. We’ve got a good team. We’re second in the whole league in our record,” James said, referring to the Cavs’ best-ever 23-4 start.

“We have to continue to get better, though. We can’t look at the record and look at some of the standings and be content. We’ve got to continue to get better.”

On Saturday, James for the first time said that he’d “consider” re-signing with the Cavaliers at the end of this season and forgo his first chance at being a free agent a year later. He followed that up by eclipsing 30 points for the fourth straight game, providing another example of why he’d be so coveted if other NBA teams got to bid for his services.

“LeBron is just LeBron. He has been marvelous this whole trip. He has been marvelous the whole year,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “He’s leading this team the right way, more importantly than scoring.

“I don’t even know what he scored tonight. I thought his composure and his leadership was key throughout the entire game, especially in the second half.”

Unlike the teams’ first meeting of the season, the second half actually mattered this time.

Cleveland had a franchise-record 34-point halftime lead in the November game and ended up with a 35-point rout, but this time couldn’t take a double-digit lead until the end of the third quarter.

James delivered that with a drive to the bucket for a three-point play and an 82-72 edge. He added a dunk during a 12-3 run that extended Cleveland’s lead to 18 points and put the game away.

“Although we didn’t execute very well tonight offensively, we made enough shots to win and we got enough stops to win,” Brown said. “I applaud my guys for finding a way tonight.”

Williams, who was brought in this offseason to reinforce for LeBron in a three-team trade that also involved the Thunder, scored 20 points and Delonte West hit his first five shots and finished with 18 points against his former team.

Kevin Durant scored 26 for the Thunder, who were playing for the first time since snapping a franchise-record 11-game home losing streak. Russell Westbrook added 24 points and matched his career-high with 11 assists and Jeff Green scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“They’re not just a good team. They’re great,” Oklahoma City interim coach Scott Brooks said. “One day that’s what we want to be. We want to be like that.”