CLEVELAND (AP)—LeBron James scored 37 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 21 to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Dallas Mavericks 100-80 Sunday despite the ejection of two players.
The win keeps the Cavaliers tied with Indiana for the sixth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and snapped their string of eight straight losses to Dallas.
The Cavaliers looked as though they would implode late in the third quarter when Robert Traylor and Drew Gooden were ejected for arguing Traylor’s foul on Jerry Stackhouse.
Traylor threw his arm band into the crowd, and Gooden followed by whipping his head band into the seats.
Stackhouse hit four straight free throws to tie the game at 56. Michael Finley added a 3-pointer on the next possession to give the Mavericks their first lead.
But Finley was flagged with a technical after getting in an official’s face over his foul on a 3-point attempt by James, who made all four free throws to make it 60-59 at the end of the period.
That sparked Cleveland. Ilgauskas scored eight of the next 11 points on a 13-2 run to open the fourth quarter, making it 69-61 and putting the game out of reach.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and Stackhouse added 16. The loss ended the Mavericks’ four-game winning streak.
Ilgauskas scored 15 of his points, and also had 16 rebounds. Anderson Varejao stepped up in Gooden’s absence, scoring nine with eight rebounds.
Cleveland outrebounded Dallas 64-34.
After an awful shooting first half, the Mavericks climbed back in it with a 21-5 run late in the third quarter.
Finley, who was 8-for-8 from 3-point range eight days ago when Dallas beat Cleveland 117-86, shot 3-for-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 13. The Mavericks were just 6-for-22 from 3-point range.
The Cavaliers went on a 21-4 run in the first quarter that included three 3-pointers from James and some hustle plays by Gooden, who finished with six points and 13 rebounds.
Cleveland opened a 38-18 lead in the second quarter, but Dallas put together a 12-4 run to pull to 42-30 at halftime.
It was a season-low in points in a half for the Mavericks, who shot 26 percent while missing several wide open jumpers.
Notes
The Mavericks are 7-2 since Avery Johnson replaced Don Nelson as head coach. … Brendan Malone is 4-4 since taking over for the fired Paul Silas. … Dallas had scored 110 or more points against Cleveland in four straight games and more than 100 in their last eight meetings. … The Cavaliers were outscored 28-8 with Ilgauskas off the floor.
Mavs Moneyball
Fear The Sword