Mavs Cutting Off LeBron to Spite the Face

↵The Cavaliers, with just one loss in Cleveland all season, hadn’t trailed by double digits at home all year. The Mavericks stepped in a sunk the Cavs into a 15-point hole in the second quarter. The Dallas defense worked hard to cut off LeBron’s scoring lanes by bringing help as soon as he moved inside the arc. This, of course, was designed to brings LeBron’s greatest weakness (perimeter shooting) into focus. That happened.
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↵But it also allowed James to pick through the passing lanes and set up his teammates. LeBron had eight assists in the first half, and the Cavs marched back quickly (once the Mavericks started missing some shots). The margin has shrunk to just two points at the break. Most Cavs shot pitifully, save Anderson Varejao (4-5) and Joe Smith (4-6) ... bad news for Dallas considering we expect the Cleveland offense to get right in the second half.
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↵Varejao played tremendous defense ... except for one play, in which Ryan Hollins climbed the Brazilian’s back and flushed a monster putback near the end of the second quarter. Really, getting the bench players into a flow and hitting peak form is more important than winning for the Mavs, considering it’s pretty locked up that Dallas will be the West’s No. 8 seed.↵