The Cavs were able to pull out a much needed 111-104 win over the lowly Dallas Mavericks. Cleveland didn’t play great, but they did just enough to get the win.
Kevin Love and J.R. Smith continued their string of good play. Love led the way for the Cavs with 29 points on 11 of 19 shooting. He also contributed 15 boards and 3 assists. Smith contributed 17 points on 4 of 9 shooting from deep. Kyle Korver sealed the game by putting up 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Harrison Barnes was the leading scorer for Dallas. He put up 23 points and 11 boards. Dennis Smith Jr. showed why he’s worth the hype despite missing a crucial layup in the final minute. He finished with 19 points and 7 assists.
It wasn’t a pretty game, but it was enough to get the win. Here’s what we learned.
Lesson #1: The Cavs can win when LeBron James doesn’t drag them to victory.
The Cavs haven’t won many games the last 15 years where LeBron doesn’t completely dominate. That includes the four-year hiatus in Miami.
James didn’t have the MVP level performances we’ve come to expect. He finished with just 17 points on 42.9% shooting from the field. He also had more turnovers (6) than he had assists (4).
Even though he did have a less than stellar game, he did seal the game with a fourth-quarter chase-down block and this dunk in the closing minutes.
LeBron comes in clutch for the @cavs!
— NBA (@NBA) November 12, 2017
The block & the dunk helps CLE to the road win in Dallas, 111-104.#AllForOne pic.twitter.com/hBQcUcw4ei
There won’t be many games when LeBron isn’t the best player on the court. It’s good to see the Cavs grind out a win when he’s not on top of his game.