CLEVELAND—The last thing the Dallas Mavericks were thinking about on Sunday afternoon was falling into the trap of easing off the gas pedal because they were playing a Cleveland Cavaliers team that was without injured superstar LeBron James. The Mavericks were in a business-like mood all game long and made quick work of the Cavs at Quicken Loans Arena, winning, 109-90, to go to 2-0 on this three-game road trip.
In winning their fifth straight game and raising their record to 25-10, the Mavericks moved into a tie with the Memphis Grizzlies (24-9) for the Western Conference’s third seed. The Grizzlies are just a few percentage points ahead of the Mavs—.727 to .714—and both teams are only three games behind the top-seeded Golden State Warriors.
It would have been easy for the Mavs to have been a bit overconfident on Sunday knowing that James wasn’t going to play because of a strained lower back and strained left knee.
But the Mavericks were so focused that they distributed 30 assists on their 44 field goals, shot a sizzling 56.4 percent from the field, put six players in double-figure scoring, and also made 12-of-26 baskets from three-point range.
“We wanted all games on this trip, so I think that’s how we approached it,” said Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 15 points and blocked two shots. “No letdowns.
“I think we’re all focused. We talked about it before the game that we want to be in attack mode on both ends of the floor, and we built some nice little leads there.”
Monta Ellis scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half when the Mavs built a 57-47 lead. Then, with Richard Jefferson making a pair of three-pointers and Al-Farouq Aminu adding a lay-up, the Mavs bolted to an 89-69 lead late in the third quarter.
“I thought Aminu was one of the keys to the game,” Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle said. “He was active, he did a great job on [Kevin] Love when he was on him, he rebounded, he ran, he got a couple of big buckets.
“I’m happy for him because it’s been a rough go here in the last week and a half or so, but he’s worked hard.” Without James, the Cavs aren’t half the team they can be. And when the Cavs lost point guard Kyrie Irving for the rest of the game with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter because of lower back tightness, all trends shifted in the direction of the visitors.
The Cavs finished the game with no fast-break points, a stat that’s always been one of the hallmarks of James’s career.
“They’re without the best player in the world and they’re without one of the best point guards in the game out there for most of the game,” Carlisle said. “That’s going to take away fast-break opportunities, as well.”
The Mavs also saw new point guard Rajon Rondo making a better connection with center Tyson Chandler. Early in the third quarter Rondo lobbed two balls near the rim that Chandler grabbed and dunked, and then jogged happily away, knowing that the synergy between the two is taking shape.
“Every game we’re getting a little more efficient and understanding each other,” Chandler said. “I’m understanding his patterns and the way he likes to pass the ball, and he’s understanding me.
“We’re starting to get a little eye contact and it’s only going to get better.”
As they wind up this three-game road trip at 6:30 p.m. on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center, the Mavs do so knowing they’re a perfect 10-0 on the road against teams from the East. But the Mavs, who received 14 points each from Chandler Parsons, J.J. Barea and Chandler, are not about to get comfortable with their rise up the Western Conference ladder.
“You can’t get happy in this league or satisfied, especially in the West,” Nowitzki said. “One loss can drop you all the way to five or six.
“We’ve just got to keep playing, keep working hard. There’s another game [tonight], and hopefully we can keep the same focus and have everybody ready to roll and go from there.”
Dwain Price / Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Image credits: AP