NBA Thursday: Heat throttle Thunder, Warriors top Rockets in OT

Knee soreness, the plague to Wade’s production as he’s aged, didn’t appear to be an issue, and the Heat guard played a crucial 37 minutes on Thursday.

It started innocently enough. Wade scored his first two baskets on easy transition dunks.

James left the game halfway through the fourth quarter following a 33-point performance and didn’t speak to media outlets afterward. The reigning MVP sat in the Heat locker room after the game with a towel over his head.

The Miami forward is averaging 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game this season and has played in 52 of the Heat’s 53 games this season.

Westbrook suffered a similar fate on Thursday night in his first game back since undergoing a third knee surgery in eight months in late December. Westbrook scored 16 points on 4-of-12 shooting while turning the ball over four times in a 103-81 destruction of Oklahoma City.

But while Westbrook did struggle, there were certainly positive signs. Westbrook was aggressive in attacking the rim, with eight of his 12 shots coming in the restricted area. And while the eccentric guard only made four of those eight shots, an inability to finish at the rim can be attributed to rust. Rose also had this issue when he returned this season, as he shot just 46.7 percent in the restricted area this year before getting injured again, per NBA.com’s stats page.

Harden has missed eight games this season with a variety of maladies, and he’s hoping he won’t have to miss too much time following this latest injury:

Harden leads the 37-18 Rockets in scoring, averaging 24.3 points on the season. The loss to Golden State snapped an eight-game winning streak for Houston.

The Denver Nuggets had the help of Kenneth Faried’s hot streak to carry them over the Bucks on Thursday night. The young forward logged 26 points, six rebounds and two assists as the Nuggets took care of business in Milwaukee.

LeBron is built like a train. He’s in the athletic peak of his life or near it, which means he might never be stronger.

But there’s no strength like Old Man Strength. Don’t ask your dad because then he’ll use his O.M.S. on you and you might die. You don’t want to get killed by your dad and his Old Man Strength.