DALLAS _ In the span of barely 24 hours, the Mavericks screamed out a new battle cry:
Bring on the Warriors.
Maybe not right now. But they gave clear signs in Monday's 104-97 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers that they have every intention of making a run at that eighth playoff spot that nobody in the Western Conference seems to want.
A night after a heart-felt win at San Antonio, the Mavericks took charge in the third quarter against the Cavaliers and never really allowed James and Kyrie Irving to work their magic.
"It's two really gritty performances," coach Rick Carlisle said of the back-to-back wins against two of the NBA's top three teams. "Tonight, we were playing even or in front. They made runs and we had answers.
"To win two games like this, it gives you energy."
Then, as only Carlisle can do, he analyzed what's changed for these Mavericks over the last month, when they went 8-6 in Januaray, as opposed to when they were 10-24 in the first two months.
"We're a (crummy) team, but we're an underrated (crummy) team," he said. "This is great to beat two teams like this. These are two of the top three teams in the league. You don't win these two games in two nights without staying the course, keeping the belief system and continuing to slug it out."
Going against James and the defending champions is always a great challenge. But the Mavericks survived it collectively.
Some of the numbers are obvious, others not so much.
Harrison Barnes had his second double-double of the season with 24 points and 11 rebounds. He helped keep the Mavericks even on the boards, which was a major contributing factor to the win.
Newcomer Yogi Ferrell had his second strong evening with 19 points, but he also played solid defense all over the court against Irving, who shot just 7-for-21.
Wesley Matthews battled James as best he could and almost got a draw, scoring 21 points to James' 23.
And then there was Dirk Nowitzki. You wouldn't know what kind of impact he had by the eight points and six rebounds he had in 24 minutes.
But the Mavericks were plus-24 when he was on the court. No other player had a better plus-minus.
His presence was opening up the court for everybody else. Meanwhile, James gave the fans a thrill by missing a triple-double by one rebound and one assist.
The Mavericks were able to survive a barrage of 3-pointers from the Cavaliers early in the fourth quarter because of Devin Harris and Dwight Powell. That pair off the bench combined for the Mavericks' first six points of the fourth quarter. So while Channing Frye was tossing in triples, the Cavaliers weren't making up much ground. And when Nowitzki took a pinpoint pass from Harris for an open 3-pointer with under 8 minutes to go, the Mavericks still had a 94-82 lead.
Powell was working the paint like an artist and when Seth Curry hit a 3-pointer with 6:17 left, the lead was up to 97-83. Two minutes later a Yogi Ferrell 3-pointer put the Mavericks up 100-85 and Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue took out Kyrie Irving. James already had taken a seat.
