Dallas Mavericks

Skidding Mavericks go from fire to Cavaliers’ frying pan

By Dwain Price

dprice@star-telegram.com
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love (0), driving against Portland Trail Blazers’ Mason Plumlee, scored an NBA-record 34 points in the first quarter Wednesday night. He finished with 40 points. Love fell three points shy of the league record for points in any quarter, set by Golden State’s Klay Thompson, who scored 37 in the third on Jan. 23, 2015. The Cavaliers host the Dallas Mavericks at 6:30 p.m. Friday on FSSW.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love (0), driving against Portland Trail Blazers’ Mason Plumlee, scored an NBA-record 34 points in the first quarter Wednesday night. He finished with 40 points. Love fell three points shy of the league record for points in any quarter, set by Golden State’s Klay Thompson, who scored 37 in the third on Jan. 23, 2015. The Cavaliers host the Dallas Mavericks at 6:30 p.m. Friday on FSSW. Ron Schwane AP

Mavericks at Cavaliers

6:30 p.m. Friday, Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland

TV: FSSW

Radio: ESPN/103.3 FM; KFLC/1270 AM (Spanish)

Records: Mavericks 2-12, Cavaliers 11-2

About the Mavericks: Dallas has lost seven straight games after being routed by the Clippers 124-104 on Wednesday. The last time the Mavericks lost seven straight was Feb. 9-19, 1999, during the lockout-shortened season. That also was Dirk Nowitzki’s rookie season. ... After missing eight games, Nowitzki returned and scored 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting Wednesday. ... The injury-riddled Mavericks are last in the NBA in scoring (91.6 points per game), rebounding (40.5 per game) and assists (17.3) and next-to-last in point differential (minus-8.2 ppg). ... This is the finale of a stretch in which 10 of the Mavs’ first 15 games were on the road. Based on last season’s finish of those 15 opponents, it’s the second-most difficult schedule in the entire NBA.

About the Cavaliers: The defending NBA champions have the best record in the East, third best in the league and best at home (8-1). ... Cleveland has a plus-7.4 point differential, the league’s third-best, and is third in scoring at 110.8 ppg. ... LeBron James (23.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 9.3 assists), Kyrie Irving (23.7 points, 5.1 assists) and Kevin Love (21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds) form arguably the NBA’s top Big 3. ... Love scored 40 points in Wednesday’s 137-125 win over Portland, including an NBA-record 34 in the first quarter. James had his 44th career triple double (31 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists).

This story was originally published November 24, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Skidding Mavericks go from fire to Cavaliers’ frying pan."

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