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Nowitzki scores 23 to lead Mavs over Cavs

Feb 4, 2014 - 5:28 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Dirk Nowitzki fell short of 30 points but the Dallas Mavericks never trailed in the last 37-plus minutes Monday in a 124-107 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nowitzki was trying to score at least 30 points in a third straight game for the first time in almost four years. He had 23, including 12 in the second quarter, and Dallas wrapped up a 3-1 homestand.

Monta Ellis added 22 points, Samuel Dalembert scored 18 and Devin Harris had a season-high 16 off the bench for the Mavericks, who have won four in a row over Cleveland and seven of the last eight in the series.

Harris has scored at least 14 points in three of his first eight games of the season since returning from toe surgery.

"Just trying to get comfortable out there," he said. "I am trying to make the most of my minutes."

The Cavaliers dropped their fifth in a row and completed a winless three-game road trip. They were led by 27 points from Kyrie Irving, 18 from Luol Deng and 17 from Tristan Thompson.

Cleveland took its last lead on C.J. Miles' 3-pointer with under two minutes to play in the first quarter. Vince Carter's jumper at the other end tied it for Dallas and DeJuan Blair's jumper gave the Mavericks a 27-25 lead going into the second.

"I thought offensively we did some nice things out there," said Cleveland coach Mike Brown. "I thought we some great looks from the perimeter -- especially early in the game -- that did not go in. The ball was moving fairly well, the spacing was good. We had some stretches where we couldn't score. Dallas took advantage of it and they go some easy buckets."

Nowitzki was 9-of-16 from the field for the game, including 3-of-5 on 3s. He was 4-for-8 and 2-for-4 in the second quarter.

The two 3s in the second came at the end of a 17-4 run that broke a tie and gave the Mavericks a 13-point advantage.

It was 59-52 at halftime and the Cavaliers got as close as two in the third quarter before Dallas scored eight in a row. Cleveland was rarely within single digits after.

The Mavericks took a 94-79 lead into the fourth quarter and led by as many as 19.

Nowitzki checked out for the last time with 6:53 remaining. He hadn't scored 30 points in three straight games since Feb. 24-28, 2010.

Game Notes

Dallas shot 55 percent, was 12-of-26 on 3-pointers and outrebounded the Cavs 45-31 ... The Mavs are at Memphis on Wednesday ... The Cavs play the Lakers on Wednesday.