Dirk Nowitzki Leads Mavs Over Cavs
October 17, 2009 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under Basketball
Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks defeated a Cleveland Cavaliers squad that was missing a few key pieces — namely LeBron James, Mo Williams and Shaquille O’Neal. Nowitzki poured in 19 points as the Mavs beat the Cavs by a final score of 93-82. With the win, Dallas is now 4-1 in the preseason.
Nowitzki scored his 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting and also had five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal. Kris Humphries, Drew Gooden and Rodrigue Beaubois were also in double figures for the Mavs.
The LeBron-less Cavs were led by Jamario Moon’s 18 points, ten rebounds and three assists. Jawad Williams had 13, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 12 and Darnell Jackson had 10 for Cleveland. With the loss, the Cavs dropped to 3-3 in exhibition play.
While LeBron has recently been sick, that wasn’t the reason why he missed the game. Cleveland’s top three stars sat out due to this game being a back-to-back affair.

Dirk Nowitzki - Dallas Mavericks (Image: Zuma Press)