Behind Evan Mobley, Cavs down Mavs for ninth straight win

Evan Mobley collected 34 points and 10 rebounds to fuel the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers to a 134-122 victory over the host Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

One day after being named the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month, Mobley put on a show at the offensive end. The power forward scored 18 points in the second quarter, finishing the night 14 of 21 from the floor and 3 of 6 from 3-point range.

Caris LeVert scored 17 points off the bench while Darius Garland recorded 16 points and nine assists for the Cavaliers, who posted their ninth straight win overall -- all by double digits.

Donovan Mitchell and Georges Niang each scored 15 points as Cleveland coasted to victory against a short-handed Dallas team that was playing without former Cavalier Kyrie Irving (illness) and superstar Luka Doncic (calf).

Cleveland shot a robust 53.1 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from 3-point range in the game.

Quentin Grimes scored 26 points, Jaden Hardy had 17 off the bench and Klay Thompson sank four of 10 3-point attempts to highlight his 16-point performance for the Mavericks, who have lost four straight games.

Brandon Williams made a short jumper to stake the Mavericks to a 21-17 lead before the Cavaliers responded by scoring the next 20 points to bridge the first and second quarters. Niang drained a pair of 3-pointers and Mobley also connected from beyond the arc during the run.

Cleveland extended its lead to 18 points (41-23) on Dean Wade's dunk in transition early in the second. It matched that advantage at 58-40 after Mobley's dunk late in the quarter.

The Cavaliers pushed their lead to 78-53 early in the third quarter on a Mobley 3-pointer, a four-point play by Mitchell and a floating jumper from Garland.

Garland's 3-pointer later in the quarter extended Cleveland's advantage to 27 points at 93-66. Dallas trimmed the deficit to nine at 129-120 with 1:16 to play before running out of gas.

--Field Level Media