Caris LeVert scored 29 points on Wednesday, hitting the go-ahead three-pointer late in the fourth quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from 20 points down in the first half to beat the Dallas Mavericks 113-110.
Jarrett Allen and the Cavs are counting the games until Donovan Mitchell returns from a longer-than-expected absence from an illness for a team short-handed well beyond the star guard.
They are finding ways to win them, too.
Photo: Kevin Jairaj-USA Today
The Mavericks went five minutes without scoring in the fourth quarter as a nine-point lead turned into a 111-105 deficit with 1 minute, 13 seconds remaining.
Allen had 24 points and 23 rebounds, one off his career high, and Isaac Okoro scored 22 points as the Cavs improved to 3-1 in the four consecutive games Mitchell has missed with an illness.
He was on the bench in street clothes, chatting with teammates during timeouts.
Cleveland are also missing their No. 2 and 3 scorers with long-term injuries to Darius Garland (broken jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee surgery), yet they are 5-1 since a three-game losing streak.
“It’s a big lift for us,” Allen said. “As long as we can hold down the fort until we get healthy again, that’s what we’re looking forward to. You can’t just discount this team. We’re going to step to every single matchup and give it our all.”
Luka Doncic scored 39 points for Dallas to get to at least 30 for the 14th time in 15 games, nine of them in the 10 straight games All-Star sidekick Kyrie Irving has missed with a right heel injury.
With Irving out, the Mavs rested Doncic longer than usual to start the fourth — almost six minutes — but they could not score after the four-time All-Star returned.
Cleveland’s 15-0 run for the lead started as soon as Doncic came back.
LeVert, Allen and Max Strus scored at the rim before a two-minute scoreless drought for both teams ended with two free throws from LeVert, who scored 15 points in the fourth quarter after missing the previous game with a knee injury.
Seth Curry scored a season-high 19 points for Dallas, but he and Doncic combined to go two of 11 from the field in the fourth quarter.
“We got some good looks,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “We just didn’t make them. Luka had looks. Curry had looks. Everybody had looks. They just didn’t go down for us.”
The Mavs trailed by six with 21 seconds left, but still had a chance to tie on a final possession after Georges Niang missed two free throws with eight seconds remaining.
Cleveland trapped Doncic near midcourt after he caught the inbound pass and Curry’s desperation three at the buzzer was blocked by Strus.
“We’ve got to get stops, and at the end, we didn’t get the look we wanted,” Kidd said. “We’ve got to be better late game.”
Elsewhere on Wednesday, it was:
‧ Magic 92, 76ers 112
‧ Nets 122, Bucks 144
‧ Rockets 113, Suns 129
‧ Thunder 129, Knicks 120
‧ Wizards 102, Raptors 132
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