MyDallasMavs: Mavs Barely Get Their 9th Consecutive Win

Monday night, the Mavericks faced Cleveland at home beating them 99-96. This earned them their 9th consecutive win while giving the Cavs their 25th consecutive loss.

You got to give the Cavs credit for this one though since they didn't simply hand the Mavs their win; they had to work for it.

The first quarter ended with the Mavs up by just one point and by the half the Mavs were up by 10.

The Cavs eventually caught up and headed into the fourth quarter down only 77-73 after trailing as many as 15 points in the third quarter.

Cleveland really picked it up and was down just 80-79; but this didn't last long when Hollins turned the ball over to Jason Terry, who went on a personal 4-0 run.

After this, the Mavs continued to go on a 7-2 run that put the game on lock before the Cavs had a rally to put them down only by three with a chance to tie after stripping the ball from Dirk.

With 9 seconds on the clock, they missed their first attempt to tie the game. Instead of trying for the second, Moon held onto the ball and recklessly passed it to Jamison, who didn't get a shot off on time.

Terry and Marion are hot coming off the bench, combining for 40 of 60 Dallas bench points tonight. Terry led the team with 23 points and Marion had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Chandler also had another double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Dirk, who jammed his wrist and left the game for some time, finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Peja finally made his debut start tonight but his shot wasn't looking too good. He scored 8 points where he was 3 for 9 from the field and 1 of 6 from beyond the arch. Carlisle decided to put in Mahinmi as Chandler's backup instead of Haywood; he finished with 11 points 8 rebounds.

During the game, the Cavs constantly rallied back after trailing double-digits, but they couldn't hold off long enough for the win. They did find a good offensive rhythm tonight though as four of their starters had 15+ points. Hickson led the team with a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds. Sessions also had a double-double of 19 points and 13 assists. Jamison was their third played to obtain a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Also, Eyenga finished with 15 points.

Next, the Mavs will set off for their 3-game road trip, facing the Sacramento Kings first on Wednesday night. They will look to push their 9-game winning streak to 10.