Dallas Mavericks annihilate the Cavaliers at home

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in stylish fashion at home on Nov. 22. Here is a look back at the impressive win.

If you thought the Dallas Mavericks were done winning by large numbers, think again. They came up huge at the American Airlines Center when they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 143-101. It was as if Luka Doncic and the bench were invincible.

There may have been a shield of armor on the men in blue Friday night, as they manhandled the Cavaliers by a whopping 42 point margin. It was particularly spectacular in the third quarter, when they outscored the Cavs 45 to 29.

Unlike their last meetup with the Cavaliers in Cleveland, the Mavericks held the team to a mere 12 threes, and just an 8 points for Kevin Love. It was as if no flaw was noticeable for Dallas.

This also marks the fourth straight win for Dallas, the first time this season. There were plenty of performances worth mentioning. Here are some notables from the Friday smack down between the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

The unstoppable sophomore

Luka will just be Luka. It seems that Mavs fans will never go a game without hearing the Slovenian star show out in front of the Dallas crowd. He dropped a humble 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 14 assists, which happens to be the first time in a long while that Doncic didn’t drop a triple double.

Nevertheless, he just won’t quit. This game leaves him averaging just shy of 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists per game. The MVP candidate is making the race for the trophy, and his beginning of the year performances back his case.

The Unicorn swats the ball, drops the three

Kristaps Porzingis continues to prove he is getting out of his early season slump. In the first half, Porzingis struggled to shoot, being 1-of-8 from the field. That didn’t stop Porzingis from terrorizing the Cavs in the paint, finishing with a tremendous four blocks, which has him averaging 2.2 blocks per game.

Then in the third quarter, Porzingis found his groove on offense. He finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds, with 50 percent shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc.

Many claim Porzingis isn’t playing the same as he used to with the New York Knicks. However, they neglect to realize that he still averages 18.2 points, 9 boards, and 40 percent shooting from the field even after missing a season and half. He may not be in the same form right away, but to play this talented deserves commendation.

Just your ordinary bench

It feels like we’ve talked about this subject multiple times. This time is especially noteworthy, since Justin Jackson went off Friday night. He dropped 19 points off the bench as he continues to fight for playing time with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Seth Curry taking a majority of the minutes.

Speaking of Hardaway Jr., he deserves some credit. With Curry out for a second consecutive game, the guard has been showing out as a starter. He dropped 20 against the Warriors on November 20, and continued that fashion with 16 until he was struck in the head by teammate Kristaps Porzingis in the third quarter.

Matchups are always key to who plays the most minutes. In this case with Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. playing, Boban Marjanovic had to get his time to shine. He played in just 17 minutes, but scored 9 points and had no trouble with players attempting to steal the ball from the 7 footer.

Next Game

The Dallas Mavericks take a short break before they head on the road again when they face the Houston Rockets on Sunday. It will be a big matchup for Luka Doncic and James Harden to see which player scores more.

Luka will be looking to bump up his stats and average a spectacular 30-10-10 in the stat column. Knock on wood the Mavericks get a fifth straight victory.