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James, Cavs look to topple league-leading Mavericks

Mar 21, 2007 - 2:58 PM Dallas (55-11) at Cleveland (41-26) 8:00 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Superstar LeBron James came up short against the Dallas Mavericks the last time around. Now he will look to put his team over the top.

After having their eight-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the league-leading Dallas Mavericks.

Despite 37 points from James, the Cavaliers suffered a 108-100 overtime loss to Charlotte on Tuesday. James missed a potential game-winning 3-point attempt at the buzzer in regulation.

James, who has averaged 39.5 points in his last four games against Dallas, missed a pair of free throws and a pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers in a 95-92 loss at Dallas on March 1.

But the Cavaliers have been making a push for the top spot in the Central Division and Eastern Conference. They trail first-place Detroit (43-23) by 2 1/2 games.

After a two-game losing skid, Dallas has come back with three consecutive wins and owns a 4 1/2-game lead over Phoenix (51-16) for the top spot in the West and the NBA's best record.

The Mavericks used a decisive third-quarter run en route to a 92-77 victory over New York on Tuesday. Josh Howard had 24 points and 10 rebounds and superstar Dirk Nowitzki also scored 24.