Final Score: Cavs strike down Mavs 99-98

In a game without LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers managed a solid win against the Dallas Mavericks.

There were some rough patches. After racing out to a 20 point lead in the first half, the Mavs made a 19-2 run in the second quarter to make it a manageable margin heading into the half. In the fourth quarter Dallas again made a run, cutting the margin down to two. But the Cavaliers finished them off, playing some very good defense down the stretch. The Mavericks never once led on Wednesday.

Sometimes critics point to how LeBron-centric the Cavaliers are. Tonight, we saw a fantastic display of offense oriented around the skill sets of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Love had a double-double in the first half after playing just 15 minutes. He finished with 23 points and 18 rebounds.

Kyrie Irving was fantastic tonight. He scored 33 points, including a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach. He had both a block and a steal in the waning minutes when the game was in question. Simply an outstanding performance.

It didn't end as smoothly as I was expecting at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but a win is win. Well done.

Next up: a two-game road trip to Florida to take on the Orlando Magic on Friday and the Miami Heat on Saturday.