It can look laborious, the Russell Westbrook takeover.

The Thunder guard ducks under defenders and comes up gunning. He dribbles into the heat of a defense, rises and fires from midrange. Even when he's scoring in bunches, Westbrook shows his work.

And he keeps getting the job done.

His latest fabulous finish — victory in a fourth-quarter faceoff with Cleveland's clutch specialist, Kyrie Irving — lifted the Thunder to a 118-109 win Thursday at Chesapeake Energy Arena and set the stage for the toughest task left on his to-do list.