Cavaliers Run Roughshod Over Mavericks 100-86

Posted by Jeff Sack under NBA Game Recap

The pair of mavericks who are heading the GOP ticket Tuesday, better hope they do a lot better than a team of Mavericks did in Dallas Monday night. The Cleveland Cavaliers did not treat their hosts kindly as they defeated them 100-86 at the American Airlines Center. Cleveland shut Dallas down almost completely in the fourth quarter as they took the Mavs totally out of their rhythm.

Cleveland came out strong in the opening period as the Mavericks appeared to have left their offense in the locker room. The Cavaliers led at the end of the quarter 28-16. The Mavericks got their game going in the second quarter, but they were still trailing at the half 51-42. Dallas was able to chip away at the Cleveland lead during the third quarter, and climbed back into the contest. The Cavaliers lead looked tenuous as they were up 72-66 heading into the final 12 minutes of play. Cleveland started the fourth on a 13-0 run, pulling ahead 85-66. Dallas never recovered.

This was truly a total team effort for the Cavaliers. Cleveland was led by LeBron James who scored a game high, and his season high 29 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had his best game of the young season, recording a double-double, as he scored 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks. Both members of Cleveland’s starting guard tandem both were key contributors to the win. Mo Williams scored 14 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, Delonte West also scored 14 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals. Veteran Wally Szczerbiak came off the bench and scored 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, Ben Wallace was scoreless, but did his job as he grabbed a game high 13 boards, 1 steal, 1 block.

Josh Howard led Dallas with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, Antoine Wright scored 10 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 rebound. Gerald Green came in off the bench and scored 10 points, 4 rebounds. The victory puts the Cavaliers back at even with a 2-2 record, while Dallas is now 1-2.

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