Wrap-Up – Even taking their recent struggled into account, the Cavaliers shouldn’t have made it look that easy against the Mavericks, but they did – pounding the perennial Western Conference heavyweights, 127-94, on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
After trailing, 31-26, after one quarter, the Wine and Gold proceeded to dismantle the Mavericks over the next three – outscoring Dallas, 101-63, to avenge an early season loss, snap a prolonged losing streak in the Lone Star State and take their 12th win in the last 13 games against Western Conference opponents.
All five Cavalier starters notched at least 17 points, led by LeBron James – who didn’t don his trademark headband for the first time since a preseason game against Detroit in his rookie season. Sans headband, James went 10-of-14 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from long-distance, for 27 points, adding seven boards, eight assists, a steal and a blocked shot. The four-time MVP’s first helper of the night moved him past Mark Price atop the Cavaliers’ all-time list for assists.
Kyrie Irving followed up with 22 points on 6-for-13 shooting, adding five boards, five assists and a pair of steals. Kevin Love and J.R. Smith each tallied 11 of their 21 points in Cleveland’s 41-point second quarter – with Smith going 5-of-8 from three-point range on the night and Love leading both squads with 14 rebounds. Timofey Mozgov rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 17 points and a game-high two blocks.
Cleveland didn’t need a ton of production from its bench, but got it anyway in the person of Iman Shumpert, who stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six boards, four assists and a game-high six steals.
The Wine and Gold dominated Dallas in almost all aspects of the game – beating them on the break (25-15), in the paint (54-44), on the boards (50-42) and from the floor, shooting 51 percent to the Mavericks’ 41.
All five starters score 17+ points.
View some of the best snapshots.
Kyrie throws the hammer down.
Go inside the locker room.
Watch final game highlights from Tuesday's victory.
Turning Point – The first quarter was back-and-forth and foretold of another white-knuckle affair in Dallas, with the Mavericks scoring four points in the period’s final four seconds to take a five-point lead.
Both teams traded leads early in the second, but LeBron’s fastbreak layup with just over eight minutes to play in the quarter gave Cleveland a lead it would not relinquish. And as poorly as the Cavs ended the first quarter was as efficiently as they ended the second – using an 11-4 run to give them a two-touchdown lead heading into intermission. The Wine and Gold upped their advantage to 23 points after three quarters and led by as many as 35 in the fourth before David Blatt emptied his bench in the closing moments.
By the Numbers – 14 … straight games that the Cavaliers had dropped in the state of Texas before Tuesday night’s victory. Before blowing out Dallas, the Cavs had lost five straight, eight of nine and 20 of the last 27 meetings with the Mavericks. Their last win in the Lone Star State was February 7, 2009.
Quotable – Coach David Blatt, on where Tuesday’s game ranks among this season’s biggest wins …
”I’m really not too interested in rating and ranking wins or performances. I’m just happy we were able to come into Dallas and play a quality team that’s so well-coached, and so well-connected over the years, and put on a very, very good performance. It’s certainly my players [that] deserve the credit for it.”
Up Next – Following Tuesday’s victory in the Big D, the Wine and Gold complete their Texas two-step on Thursday night when they take on the Spurs in a nationally-televised affair in San Antonio. The Cavaliers get a much-needed two-day break before closing out the four-game roadie with a Sunshine State back-to-back – against Orlando on Sunday evening and a return to South Beach on Monday, as the Cavs look to avenge a Christmas Day loss to Dwyane Wade and Co. After that, the Cavaliers play two straight home games for the first time since before the All-Star Break – welcoming the Nets and Pacers to The Q next Wednesday and Friday.