Cavs complete rout of Mavericks to usher second consecutive win

Cavs extend win streak with Mavs blowout

The Cleveland Cavaliers relied on a balanced attack to pull off a surprising 114-96 blowout over the Dallas Mavericks on the road. Now with a pretty complete roster, the Cavs have won two-straight games and are beginning to round back to their impressive early-season form.

With the Mavs being favored by oddsmakers to secure the win, a reinvigorated Cleveland squad completely pulled the rug from under them. Even the lopsided final score tells a skewed story of a much more one-sided affair, with the Cavs leading by as much as 31 at one point in the final period.

The Tower City frontcourt came up huge for the Cavaliers once more, with center Jarrett Allen leading all scorers in the game with 28 points to go with 14 rebounds, while Lauri Markkanen tallied a season-high 24 markers.

Rookie Evan Mobley had a comparatively moderate outing, finishing with 12 points, seven boards, and two blocked shots, but was no less vital for Cleveland on both ends of the floor. Even Kevin Love came in with a very efficient performance to boost a depleted bench unit without Cedi Osman.

After beginning to pull away in the second quarter, the Cavs never looked back nor relented on the accelerator, downright erasing another masterful performance by Dallas’ All-Star Luka Doncic.

Defensive-minded Cavs also clicking on offense

Despite allowing the superstar Doncic to notch another triple-double of 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, the Cavaliers defense did a solid job to help neutralize all the other Mavericks. Their swarming presence limited Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. to a combined 15 points off 32 percent shooting from the field.

Tower City made sure to dominate the boards as well, outrebounding a tall Mavericks squad 48-33, and was a big part of the Cavs scoring more than half of their points in the painted area.

The quirky, mismatched lineup combinations that made them successful early in the season, continued to bother Dallas. Led by floor generals Darius Garland and Ricky Rubio, the outside shots were also falling, with six Cavaliers finishing in double figures following a combined 53 percent clip from beyond the arc.

Returning to above .500 with an 11-10 record for the season, a now-healthy Cavs team resumes the chase for a play-in/playoff berth, out to prove that the early-season success was not an anomaly.

Cleveland will remain on the road for the entire week, facing off against two more playoff contenders in the Miami Heat (Dec. 1) and the Washington Wizards (Dec. 3).