NBA

Dallas Mavericks at Cleveland Cavaliers

· National Basketball Association
26-24, 12-14 Away
Final
101 - 144

40-9, 24-3 Home

Evan Mobley scores 22, Cavaliers make 26 3s in 144-101 romp over Mavericks following Doncic trade

Cavs scorch Mavs for historic 91 1st-half points

Darius Garland added 17 points and 10 assists as the Cavs improved the league's best record to 40-9.

Sam Merrill made nine 3-pointers and Cleveland set a franchise record with 26 3s.

Hoping to return to the Finals, the Mavericks dealt the 25-year-old Doncic, a five-time All-Star and the face of their franchise to Los Angeles for Davis, one of the league's most talented two-way players.

Davis will join forces in Dallas with All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, who has plenty of experience playing with other superstars after stints alongside LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Doncic.

Unfortunately, Irving wasn't available because of injury and the Cavs blitzed the Mavericks from the start. Cleveland scored a franchise record 50 points in the first quarter and opened a 45-point halftime lead.

Their 91 points tied for the third-most in a first half in league history.

Jaden Hardy paced Dallas with 21 points.

Takeaways Mavericks: Dallas only had 10 players in uniform as Irving (shoulder), forward P.J. Washington Jr. (knee) and centers Daniel Gafford (ankle), Dereck Lively II (ankle) and Dwight Powell (hip) all sat out with injuries.

Cavaliers: An easy afternoon to tune up for Tuesday night's matchup against Boston.

Key moment Garland made three 3-pointers in a span of 66 seconds as the Cavs opened an early 27-9 lead.

Key stat The Cavs have made at least 10 3-pointers in 54 straight games, tying Portland for the fourth longest streak. The Houston Rockets hold the record with 97 consecutive games with 10 3s or more.

Up Next The Mavericks are in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The Cavs host the defending champion Celtics, who ended Cleveland's 15-game winning streak to start the season.

Regular Season Series

CLE wins series 2-0

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 101 - 144
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 101 - 144
4th 2.1 shot clock turnover 101 - 144
4th 26.2 Brandon Williams makes 27-foot three point jumper (Olivier-Maxence Prosper assists) 101 - 144
4th 29.1 Ty Jerome bad pass (Olivier-Maxence Prosper steals) 98 - 144

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/dal.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDAL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/cle.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCLE
40-103 FG 53-93
39 Field Goal % 57
9-43 3PT 26-45
21 Three Point % 58
12-15 FT 12-16
80 Free Throw % 75
45 Rebounds 51
10 Offensive Rebounds 3
35 Defensive Rebounds 48
22 Assists 39
6 Steals 7
3 Blocks 8
9 Turnovers 8
0 Team Turnovers 1
9 Total Turnovers 9
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
10 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 14
11 Fast Break Points 33
50 Points in Paint 54
11 Fouls 17
0 Largest Lead 53
Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland Cavaliers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Larry Nance Jr., F Out Dec 21
Max Strus, G Out Dec 21
Dallas Mavericks Dallas Mavericks Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Anthony Davis, F Out Dec 25
Dereck Lively II, C Out Dec 21
Kyrie Irving, G Out Dec 13
Dante Exum, G Out Nov 20

Game Information

Rocket Arena

Location: Cleveland, OH
Attendance: 19,432 · Capacity:

2025-26 Southwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
San Antonio 23 7 .767 - W8
Houston 17 10 .630 4.5 L2
Memphis 14 16 .467 9 W1
Dallas 12 20 .375 12 L1
New Orleans 8 23 .258 15.5 L1

2025-26 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Detroit 24 6 .800 - W3
Cleveland 17 15 .531 8 L1
Chicago 14 15 .483 9.5 W4
Milwaukee 12 18 .400 12 W1
Indiana 6 24 .200 18 L6
Full Standings

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