Mavs Overwhelm Short-Handed Cavs

The Cavaliers came into the game one All-Star down and would leave the game down two, as the Dallas Mavericks would take advantage of the situation, beating the Cavs 109-90. 

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Against arguably the most talented starting five in the league, it was going to take a Herculean effort from the Cavs All-Star duo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to beat the high-octane Mavericks offense. While Kevin Love was able to put together another strong game, Irving struggled from the floor before exiting the game with lower back tightness which would keep him out of the game and have him sidelined for Monday's game as well. 

Known for his hot first quarters with the Cavs, Sunday afternoon was no different for Kevin Love who came out in the first quarter scoring 10 points. What was different for Kevin Love was he did not fizzle out like he usually does and kept pressure on the Mavericks' D, tallying 30 points total for the game.

While Love shined, he shined alone. The Cavs next best player on the afternoon was Shawn Marion, which is a problem considering this isn't 2006 when he was in his prime. There needed to be more Sunday, and to put it quite frank, there just wasn't enough.

Three Things

1. What to make of Kevin Love?

A case can be made that Kevin Love has been playing his best ball with the Cavs lately. Coming off a 25 point game, Love followed it up with a 30 point game today, and also added 10 rebounds. His spike in offensive production is very similar to Chris Bosh's game when Lebron James or Dwyane Wade would miss a game. It remains to be seen however if Kevin Love can integrate his new-found game of late without Lebron James back into the fold once Lebron does return.

2. The Other Guys

Without Lebron and an attacking Kyrie putting pressure on the defense to make it rotate, the rest of the Cavaliers outside of Dion are very limited. Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova, Mike Miller, are who they are. The reality is against good teams like the Mavericks, if Dion Waiters doesn't have it going when the Cavs are shorthanded to give Love some help, effort alone won't cut it if the Cavs want to get wins. They must find another way to win, whether it be offensively or better yet on the defensive end. 

3. Dion Waiters > Kyrie Irving?

No, Dion Waiters is not a better basketball player or scorer than Kyrie Irving. But can he be a better passer? According to Cavaliers GM David Griffin, he may be. While sitting with Cavalier play-by-play announcer Fred McLeod and color commentator Austin Carr, Griffin talked about how fond he is of Dion Waiter's game, specifically his passing, calling him underrated. While most believe Lebron is the best point guard of the Cavs, Griffin said on air that he believes Waiters is second to only Lebron in passing ability on the team. This comes as a bit shocking as Kyrie Irving is the franchise point guard and Waiters name is constantly on the trade market if not for a big man, a stable backup point-guard.

Statlines of the night: 

JJ Barea: 14 points (6-of-7 shooting) 4 assists 

Tyson Chandler: 14 points (6-of-7 shooting) 8 rebounds

The Mavericks beat the Cavs with a balanced attack as five players ended up with 14 points or more. While Barea's and Chandler's numbers don't wow you, the efficiency of how they played Sunday afternoon should. Together they combined for 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting and considering these two were on the 2011 team that won it all, performances like this should be a nice little reminder that shows the world what they are capable of.

What's next:

Jan. 5 on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers. 7:00 p.m. EST