Evan Mobley collected 34 points and 10 rebounds to fuel the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers to a 134-122 victory over the host Dallas Mavericks on Friday night (Saturday, January 4, Manila time).
One day after being named the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month, Mobley put on a show at the offensive end. The power forward scored 18 points in the second quarter, finishing the night 14 of 21 from the floor and 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
Caris LeVert scored 17 points off the bench while Darius Garland recorded 16 points and nine assists for the Cavaliers, who posted their ninth straight win overall — all by double digits.
Donovan Mitchell and Georges Niang each scored 15 points as Cleveland coasted to victory against a short-handed Dallas team that was playing without former Cavalier Kyrie Irving (illness) and superstar Luka Doncic (calf).
Cleveland shot a robust 53.1 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from 3-point range in the game.
Quentin Grimes scored 26 points, Jaden Hardy had 17 off the bench and Klay Thompson sank four of 10 3-point attempts to highlight his 16-point performance for the Mavericks, who have lost four straight games.
Brandon Williams made a short jumper to stake the Mavericks to a 21-17 lead before the Cavaliers responded by scoring the next 20 points to bridge the first and second quarters. Niang drained a pair of 3-pointers and Mobley also connected from beyond the arc during the run.
Cleveland extended its lead to 18 points (41-23) on Dean Wade’s dunk in transition early in the second. It matched that advantage at 58-40 after Mobley’s dunk late in the quarter.
The Cavaliers pushed their lead to 78-53 early in the third quarter on a Mobley 3-pointer, a four-point play by Mitchell and a floating jumper from Garland.
Garland’s 3-pointer later in the quarter extended Cleveland’s advantage to 27 points at 93-66. Dallas trimmed the deficit to nine at 129-120 with 1:16 to play before running out of gas. – Rappler.com
