Running on fumes, Cavaliers skid further after loss to the Mavericks

Cleveland Cavaliers slide further from a guaranteed playoff spot

The undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers ran out of ammunition late in a shootout against the Dallas Mavericks to lose at home, 120-111. Without two of their best defenders on the floor, the Cavs simply struggled to keep up with the surging Mavs for four quarters.

Being without the services of two-thirds of the Tower City frontcourt duo in All-Star center Jarrett Allen (broken finger) and rising star Evan Mobley (ankle sprain), Cleveland was forced to keep pace with the red-hot Mavericks offensively.

Caris LeVert erupted for his best game in a Cavaliers uniform to tally 32 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Darius Garland notched his 25th points-assists double-double of the season with 25 and 10, to go with five boards and four steals.

However, they had no answer in slowing down Dallas superstar Luka Doncic, who nearly finished with another triple-double after putting up 35 points, 13 assists, and nine rebounds in another masterclass performance.

Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith also balled out with 28 huge points as the visiting team marched to their third consecutive win by suffocating the dreary Cavaliers offense in the second half.

The Cavs face an uphill climb in the final few seven games

Cleveland dug a deeper hole in the playoff race after tallying an awful 6-10 record in the month of March. The ailing squad remains in seventh place with a 42-34 card, two full games behind the both the Chicago Bulls and the Toronto Raptors who currently occupy the fifth and sixth spots in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavs are looking up after securing their first winning record post-second LeBron James era, but are they contented to sit on their laurels and call it a successful season?

Simply making it to the play-in tournament would have been considered an overachievement by the low standards set during the rebuilding years, but after their mercurial rise this season, neither the front office nor the players appear ready to stop shooting for a guaranteed playoff berth that comes with one of the top six seeds.

No doubt it would be a steep trek uphill from hereon out. No rest for the weary young squad either, as the Cleveland Cavaliers have less than a day’s turnaround to try and bounce back with a win against the Atlanta Hawks on the road in the second leg of the back-to-back.