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Hobbled Mavs defeat Cavs

Jan 3, 2011 - 4:18 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Shawn Marion scored 22 points while DeShawn Stevenson added 21, helping the depleted Dallas Mavericks to a 104-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Tyson Chandler provided 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Mavericks, who are without forwards Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler because of injuries. Nowitzki missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained knee, while Butler suffered a knee injury Saturday against Milwaukee.

However, Dallas got big contributions from its starters, all of whom scored at least 10 points to help snap a three-game slide. Jason Terry netted 18, while Jason Kidd scored 10 with eight assists.

"This was a much-needed win for us, with what happened with Caron last night and the tough game," said Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle. "It's been a tough 24 hours. But the guys came together and battled hard."

Antawn Jamison ended with 35 points and 10 boards for the Cavaliers, who were coming off Saturday's loss in Chicago. Cleveland's two losses to begin the new year continued the trend from its horrid December, when the Cavs went 1-14.

Ramon Sessions contributed 19 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in the setback, but no other Cavaliers player scored in double digits.

"We just didn't have enough guys play well tonight," said Cleveland head coach Byron Scott. "That's pretty much the bottom line. [Jamison] played great and [Sessions] was fantastic. We just needed a few more guys to kick in."

Dallas opened the game with a 12-2 run and pushed its lead to 21-7 on Marion's dunk with 5:37 left. But Cleveland ended the quarter on a 14-4 burst, drawing within 27-25 on Sessions' jumper with 1.9 seconds remaining.

That pattern repeated itself throughout the contest -- the Mavericks built a double-digit lead before Cleveland answered.

But Dallas' rallies were a little more sustained and frequent than Cleveland's. While the Mavericks couldn't turn the game into a blowout, they still forced the Cavaliers to play from behind.

The Cavaliers were actually ahead after starting the second with an Alonzo Gee free throw and J.J. Hickson dunk. The Mavericks scored the next eight points, and were back up by double digits shortly thereafter.

Dallas led by as many as 15 in the quarter -- Chandler's layup with 4:05 left made it a 51-36 contest -- but Cleveland had the next three buckets and was within 55-47 at halftime.

The same scenario played out in the third, when the Mavericks led by a game- high 17 before taking a 79-69 lead into the fourth.

Cleveland made a final push to get back in the game nearly halfway through the final quarter. Jamison hit two jumpers during a six-point burst that brought Cavaliers within 86-77 with 6:23 to go.

However, Dallas scored nine of the next 11 points to essentially secure the victory.

Game Notes

The Mavericks made 10-of-27 shots from three-point range, compared to 5-of-17 for Cleveland...The Cavaliers made 50.6 percent of their shots overall...Dallas scored 20 points off 15 Cleveland turnovers.