King James, Cavs too much for youthful Mavericks

With the Dallas Mavericks mired in a 2-10 start, a little visit from the King provided a measuring stick as to how far away this team is from rejoining the NBA’s elite.

Unfortunately, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers reminded them just how far off they are as the Mavs fell 111-104 at American Airlines Center on Saturday night.

Kevin Love poured in 29 points, James added 19 and J.R. Smith scored 17 from the shadows for Cleveland (6-7).

Despite a season-long struggle after halftime, the Mavs (2-11) shook off a miserable third quarter with a late rally that helped draw them within one point twice in the closing stretch.

Dallas shot just 33 percent in the third quarter and never maintained consistent momentum to make an established run in the final 12 minutes.

“I haven’t looked through at the whole thing yet. I know we had a lot of good looks that we really like that didn’t go down,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “A lot of times it turns into a make-or-miss thing. We got hit on the boards which hurt us. I thought we overcame a frustrating period where shots weren’t going down and they were getting some calls.”

The fireworks started when Dirk Nowitzki and Wesley Matthews knocked down back-to-back 3s with about 7 minutes remaining in the game.

That got the AAC crowd of 20,378 on their feet as Dennis Smith Jr. — whom the Mavs hope can take a seat on the NBA’s royal court — tried to go to work on the King.

After picking off a James pass and racing the length of the floor, Smith was greeted with a resounding block by James that gave the North Carolina State standout a taste of NBA basketball.

Smith was up to the challenge, though, coming right back on a nice steal and feed from Matthews to put down a thunderous dunk and get Dallas within 96-94.

After that, it was just a matter of time for James and the Cavaliers. James worked a screen to perfection and got a defensive matchup switch that brought Nowitzki out to the perimeter.

He blew past the Mavs’ all-time leading scorer for a show-stopping dunk that made it 100-97.

Smith finished with 21 points and seven assists, while forward Harrison Barnes scored 23 on 9-of-19 shooting to lead Dallas.

Barnes, who’s averaged 19.3 points per game this season, was consistent throughout but mostly a non-factor late, missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final minute.

The glass was a factor again Saturday, with Cleveland outrebounding the Mavs 53-42, including 17-8 in the third quarter.

Prior to Saturday’s game, Carlisle said a refreshed approach has given more energy to practice and how games will be approached in the near term.

“We’ve made a few adjustments the last couple of days,” he said. “The NBA’s become a league of playmakers, and if you don’t have a couple of those guys in there, you can get behind and it gets tough.”

Barnes, despite his production Saturday, missed crucial stretches of the fourth quarter and didn’t return until midway through the final 12 minutes.

He played almost 40 minutes, but left Dallas a void to fill in trying to climb back in the game late.

Carlisle pointed out that work over the last week has proven his team is buying into system basketball that helps give scorers the secondary backup they need to produce.

“Harrison’s starting to find a rhythm, and early on we had an emphasis on playing fast that didn’t really work,” he said. “We just need to be in a system where we are more selective and run more off the defensive stops we make.”

This story was originally published November 11, 2017 at 11:06 PM with the headline "King James, Cavs too much for youthful Mavericks."