Oklahoma City Thunder notebook: Thunder faces winless Detroit

Scott would have been linked to three had James not taken his talents to South Beach six days after Scott was hired as Cavs' coach in July 2010.

Of the top six players in NBA career triple-doubles, Scott crossed paths with half of them in Johnson (138), Kidd (107) and Lever (43).

TIP-INS

Sunday's food drive raised 5,000 pounds of food, enough for nearly 4,000 meals for OKC families for the Holidays. Homeland will match the offerings. The Governor's Food Drive helped kick off the Thunder's 2012 Holiday Assist. … Thunder guard Kevin Martin and Cleveland forward Omri Casspi were teammates in Sacramento. … OKC outscored the Cavs 46-30 in the paint and 31-18 in fast-break points, but the teams tied 8-8 in second-chance points. … Cleveland center Anderson Varejao entered the game averaging 14 points and 14 rebounds, but the Thunder held him to six points and eight rebounds. … Scott admitted defense is his team's primary shortcoming and it showed as OKC shot 54.8 percent from the field, 46.7 percent from 3-point range and 86.4 percent from the free-throw line. … The Thunder won despite having more turnovers (21) than assists (20) for the first time this season.

QUOTABLE

Brooks on Russell Westbrook's heroics that included making four straight 3-pointers to break the game open early in the fourth quarter: “He's one of the guys on our team who can make tough shots, and he can score in bunches, and he did that,” Brooks said. “He had three or four buckets in a row that were special. Not a lot of guys would take them and not a lot of guys can make them, but Russell has the ability to take big shots and he has no fear. That's what makes him one of the best in the league. He can attack and he's so determined.”

BY JOHN ROHDE