Cavaliers Hold Back Mavericks

The Cleveland Cavaliers broke a bad habit Thursday night by finishing off what they started.

The Cavaliers built up a lead and, led by Shawn Kemp's 22 points and 12 rebounds, did not wilt in the end for a 104-98 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Entering the game, Cleveland had blown leads of nine points or more in 15 games this season.

"We've had so many leads we've lost, so I'm never relaxed until the clock says zero," coach Randy Wittman said. "But we came out in the second half and protected our lead. We sustained it."

Cedric Henderson added 15 points and Brevin Knight had 12 points and 11 assists for the Cavaliers.

"We still have an outside chance," Knight said. "If we win out, we'll be there. That's the way we have to look at it. We can't say we're out of it."

Dallas' loss was the Phoenix Suns' gain. The Mavs fell to 29-39, and that clinched a playoff berth for Suns, 44-23. The Suns are the fourth Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot the Lakers, Trail Blazers and Jazz are the others.

Michael Finley's 29 points, Dirk Nowitzki's 17 and Steve Nash's 15 paced the Mavericks, who had wn five of their previous six games.

On Tuesday, Dallas rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat San Antonio in its biggest home comeback in franchise history. But against the Cavaliers, the Mavericks were unable to get closer than five points in the second half after falling behind by as 23 at halftime.

"We played terrible," Dallas' Erick Strickland said. "We shot the ball atrociously. We didn't do anything until the second half and by then it was too late."

Coach Don Nelson said, "I suppose it's human nature after an emotional win like that. If we would have started the game the way we did in the second half, we would've won the game."

Cleveland hit 8 of 10 field goal attempts during one stretch late in the second quarter and built a 56-33 halftime lead.

Kemp and Henderson had 13 points each in the first half while the Cavs were outscoring the Mavericks on the fastbreak, 20-0.

Cleveland was ahead by 20 points midway through the third quarter before the Mavericks scored nine unanswered points to reduce the deficit to 62-51. The Cavaliers led 74-63 after three quarters.

"We were aware that they were down against San Antonio and made a late charge," Knight said. "We knew they were a dangerous team."

The Mavericks were outscored in the first quarter, 22-14, as the Cavaliers set the tone for the game with a strong defensive effort.

"Our defense attacked them," Wittman said. "We backed them up on their heels. We contested shots and didn't allow them to get the easy stuff they've been getting."

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