Donovan Mitchell’s 34 points paced Cavs past Mavs

Donavan Mitchell scored 34 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 105-90, Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.

The loss dropped the Mavs to 14-14, while the Cavs improved to 18-11.

Luka Doncic paced the Mavs with 30 points, Christian Wood scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Reggie Bullock collected 12 point, and Spencer Dinwiddie added 10 points, six rebounds and a game-high seven assists.

Other than Mitchell, the Cavs got 18 points from Lamar Stevens, 14 points apiece from Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, 12 points from Darius Garland, and 11 points from Caris LeVert.

The Mavs will finish this homestand Friday against Portland before traveling to Cleveland for a rematch with the Cavs on Saturday that jump-starts a four-game road trip. The trip will also include a pair of games in Minnesota — on Monday and Dec. 21 — and one in Houston on Dec. 23 before the Mavs return home to host the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 25.

Cleveland mounted a 58-35 lead late in the second quarter and appeared well on its way to winning easily. But the Mavs regrouped and sliced the deficit down to 91-82 early in the fourth quarter.

However, the Cavs countered with three-pointers from Mitchell and Stevens and a pair of dunks from Mobley to build the lead to 101-84 with 4:19 remaining in the game.

Mitchell came in averaging 29 points per game and he almost had that covered in the first half when he poured in 27 points on 10-of-12 shots, including 5-of-6 three-pointers. Whatever little breathing room the Mavs gave Mitchell, he managed to seize the moment and take over the game.

When the Cavs went on a back-breaking 17-0 run to forge ahead, 51-30, with 3:27 remaining in the first half, Mitchell was the linchpin in that surge with 10 points. He also nailed another jumper, another three-pointer and a pair of free throws as the Cavs led, 60-41, at the game’s midway point.

In fact, the Mavs defeated Mitchell and the Utah Jazz in the first round of last season’s playoffs. Mavs forward Reggie Bullock describes Mitchell – the Cavs got him in a trade with the Jazz over the summer – as “just grit” and “hunger.”

“(He’s) a flashy guard who kind of gets to the paint pretty much at will (and) can shoot threes in transition,” Bullock said. “He just brings another energy.

“I feel like they needed it and they already got Garland, too. So I think it was a great addition to their team.”

Wednesday’s game started terribly rough for the Mavs. They missed eight of their first nine shots and fell behind 16-2 less than five minutes into the game when the Cavs were connecting on seven of their first nine shots.

Mobley scored six of those points, including two on a fast break dunk. But the Mavs crawled back in the game thanks to seven points from Wood, including a three-pointer that shaved the Cleveland lead to 28-25 at the 10:18 mark of the second quarter.

And it was only a four-point game until the Cavs stretched it to 40-30 on the heels of a three-pointer and a jumper from Mitchell with 5:26 left before halftime.

Overall, the Cavs outscored the Mavs in the paint, 52-26, and also outrebounded Dallas, 43-33. Cleveland managed to shoot 52.6 percent from the field, while the Mavs made 39.2 percent of their field goals.

The  Mavs were without two of their top eight rotation players in Maxi Kleber (right knee sprain) and Josh Green (right elbow sprain).

Twitter: @DwainPrice