Mavs vs. Cavs Preview: Dallas Looks to Avenge Wednesday's Loss to Cleveland

The Dallas Mavericks look to build on their dominant Friday night victory over the Trail Blazers as they travel to Cleveland on Saturday to take on the Cavaliers for the second time this week.

Michael Mulford | Dec 17, 2022

In this story:

The Dallas Mavericks (15-14) hit the road to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers (19-11) on Saturday in what will be their second night of a back-to-back.

These two teams faced off on Wednesday night in Dallas as the Cavs dominated the Mavs, 105-90, in what was the home team's worst offensive performance of the season.

Dallas is fresh off a 130-110 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, which ended its two-game losing streak. The Mavericks took control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Trail Blazers by 10 points before blowing past Portland in the third quarter with a 25-point lead.

Luka Doncic dominated the Trail Blazers, finishing with 33 points, six rebounds, and nine assists on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor and 5-of-9 from downtown, which included a monster poster slam over Portland's Drew Eubanks.

Christian Wood had his best game as a Maverick on Friday, finishing with a season-high 32 points and 12 rebounds on 11-of-17 shooting from the field in 30 minutes off the bench.

The Cavaliers also fresh off a victory on Friday night, defeating the Indiana Pacers, 118-112, for their second-straight win. Cleveland fought back from an 11-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter by outscoring Indiana 35-18 in the final 12 minutes to get the comeback victory.

Cleveland was led by Donovan Mitchell's 41 points, including scoring 28 points in the second half to lead the Cavs to the come from behind win. Luckily for the Mavs, Mitchell and company will also be on the second night of a back-to-back, and they had to exert a little more energy than Dallas did on Friday night.

Here's everything else you need to know about tonight's game:

FUN FACT: Following Saturday's matchup against the Cavaliers, the Mavericks only play one team with a record over .500 in their next eight games.

RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (15-14), Cleveland Cavaliers (19-11)

WHEN: Saturday, December 17, 2022 – 7:00 p.m. CT

WHERE: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse (Cleveland, OH)

TV: Bally Sports Southwest

RADIO: 97.1 The Freak, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

ODDS: The Mavs are currently 4.5-point underdogs vs. the Cavaliers.

NEXT UP: The Mavs travel to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday at 7:00 pm CT in the first of back-to-back games against the T-Wolves.

FINAL WORD: "Just attack. My teammates trust me and kept giving me the ball and finding me in the spots that they know I can score in," Christian Wood said following a season-high 32 points in Friday's victory.

Wood had his best game of the season in Dallas' victory over Portland and with Maxi Kleber out indefinitely and Dwight Powell leaving Friday's game with a left thigh injury, Jason Kidd may have to place more of his trust within No. 35.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here.

Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Published Dec 17, 2022

MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.