Cavs have no answer for Mavs

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle knew his short-handed team needed a boost to break its three-game losing streak.

Leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki was on the bench in street clothes for the fourth straight game because of a sprained knee. Caron Butler, the Mavericks’ third-leading scorer, was flying back to Dallas with a knee injury he suffered Saturday night in Milwaukee that could possibly keep him out for an extended period of time.

Carlisle ended up with plenty of volunteers to pick up the slack in Sunday night’s 104-95 win over Cleveland.

Shawn Marion scored 22 points and DeShawn Stevenson added 21 as both players hit their season-highs to pace the balanced attack. Jason Terry, starting for only the sixth time this season, scored 18 points, Tyson Chandler added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Jason Kidd had 10 points and eight assists.

“This was a much needed win for us with what happened with Caron,” Carlisle said. “It has been a tough 24 hours, but the guys came together and really battled hard. They made runs at us, but we had answers.”

The Cavaliers, who were equally short-handed, have lost seven straight and 17 of 18. Point guard Mo Williams returned after missing two games because of a strained hip, but scored five points, making 2 of 11 from the field. Cleveland played without two starters, center Anderson Varejao (broken cheekbone) and guard Daniel Gibson (bruised thigh).

Antawn Jamison led Cleveland with a season-high 35 points, and Ramon Sessions added 19.

“We didn’t have enough guys play well,” Cleveland coach Byron Scott said. “That’s pretty much the bottom line. When you’re playing against a good team like Dallas, it can’t be just two guys. You have to have four or five guys play well.”

Thanks to the injuries, Scott was forced to give inexperienced players Manny Harris, Alonzo Gee and Christian Eyenega significant minutes.