Someone forgot to inform the Cavaliers that gametime was 1:00 PM today at Quicken Loans Arena. Once they woke up, it wasn't even a contest as the Cavaliers absolutely flattened the Dallas Cubans.

• The Mavericks came out of the gate today and looked like a team that wanted to play giant slayer. Dallas got out to a 13 point lead in the early going thanks to 9-of-13 shooting while the Cavaliers shivered to the tune of 3-of-14.  Interior defense was an issue early as Erick Dampier had four easy buckets inside in the first quarter.  Jason Kidd did an excellent job distributing the ball as well as hitting a few open jumpers.  Cleveland shot just 26 percent in the first with the Mavs at a 46 percent clip.  It seemed like the Cavaliers were doomed to suffer their second home loss as they trailed by 15 in the second quarter with absolutely no life or energy to speak of.  Then, it happened.

• What happened is what seemingly always happens when the Cavaliers get hit in the mouth: the Cavaliers got serious on defense.  They made a strong effort to take away the open looks and easy dunks the Mavs were getting early on.  Anderson Varejao did a spectacular job on Dirk Nowitzki in my opinion.  The Wild Thing frustrated Nowitzki several times as he got the benefit of the doubt on the foul call (or lack thereof) to the point that Dirk was complaining and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle was T'd up.  They also got some offensive production from the bench as they stopped settling for jump shots.  Joe Smith gave them a big lift as he hit an awkward corner three at the first quarter buzzer and gave the wine and gold 10 first half points.  The Cavaliers as a result trailed by just two at intermission.

• The Cavaliers came out of the locker room with a big time sense of urgency.  The leaders of this team showed early on in the half that this was their game.  Ilgauskas hit three big buckets right away from the perimeter, and James followed that up by hitting three shots in a row, including two jumpers over Jason Kidd.  LeBron had 15 points in all during that third quarter in which the Cavaliers outscored the Mavericks 30-11.  Mo Williams caught fire during the second and third quarters after missing his first eight shots to start.  Mo finished with 22 points as he made 7 of his last 8 shots from the floor.  From there, it was blowout city.

• LeBron had a couple of frightening plays today for the Cavalier faithful.  First, an enthusiastic dunk with an exclamation point on it allowed Antoine Wright to bump James as he was trying to let go of the rim.  James hit the deck on his side and could have easily broken his wrist as West did earlier in the season.  Next, in the third quarter, LeBron collided with official Derek Richardson while sprinting back up court.  Richardson hit James square in the chest and both hit the deck.  LBJ was down on the floor for several minutes as he appeared to just have the wind knocked out of him.  Those kind of plays make your heart jump as a Cavalier fan.

• Wally Szczerbiak made his return today with 16 minutes of game action, finishing with 4 points, 5 boards, and 2 steals.  Good to see Wally back in action as the Cavaliers look to reach full strength with the return of Big Ben in the next week.

• Often, garbage time is overlooked, but today there were a couple of phenomenal plays from J.J. Hickson.  First, Hickson rebounded an errant shot off the top of the backboard and used it as an alley-oop and throw down a two-hand slam.  Next, Ryan Hollins, who already hammed it up riding on top of Varejao earlier in the ballgame, tried to posterize the rookie.  Instead, Hollins was forced to eat a leather sandwich courtesy of number 21.  The bench showed its approval on that return-to-sender, especially King James.

• Another note on that, I've come to the conclusion that if the Cavaliers had any more fun playing the game of basketball and just being a team together, someone would have to start charging them for it.  The ABC crew today was in awe of what we've seen day after day in Cleveland.  It's really something in this day and age of sports and individual egos that you have an all-for-one, one-for-all team philosophy that everyone has bought into with such passion.  If the Cavaliers don't end up winning the championship, it won't be from a lack of focus on a single unified goal, an NBA championship.

goes to: Joe Smith and Anderson Varejao.  Perhaps a little unorthodox with the hardware today, but Smith's effort today and in the last several games cannot be overlooked.  Smith had his best game as a Cavalier this season with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists in 27 minutes.  Joe really kept the Cavaliers in the game during the first half.  Varejao did an excellent job in limiting Dirk Nowitzki's effectiveness today.  Nowitzki was just 7-of-23 from the floor for 20 points and 7 rebounds.  Credit Varejao, who gave him fits for most of his time on the floor as the pesky Brazilian continues to frustrate opponents nightly.  Don't sleep on LeBron, Mo, and Z's production though.  All James did was 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 12 assists.  Mo had 22 points to go with 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, while Big Z tacked on 14 points and 9 boards.

Team Grade: A-

This was an impressive win against a playoff team.  The Mavericks had absolutely no answer for the defensive toughness and offensive efficiency that the Cavaliers displayed for the last 2 1/2 quarters.  The Cavaliers are so used to getting a great start at home that it was awkward to see them trail by 15 in the first half, their biggest home defecit of the year, and trail at the half, their first home defecit at half this season.  But, the 44 points they held the Mavs to in the last three quarters was more than enough to send them packing.

The wine and gold will next take on the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night at the Q.

Get PuMped!

Kirk

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