And when a legitimate contender confronted them Saturday night, it showed.

The Cleveland Cavaliers made the Mavericks look ordinary. Considering this was the sixth team out of 17 opponents that had a winning record as of Saturday, it's easy to see why the Mavericks aren't too giddy about being 12-5.

The teams they have beaten were a combined 84-100 before Saturday's play.

The teams they've lost to? A combined 36-38.

In the Mavericks' defense, they are playing shorthanded. "Sometimes we had three starters out and we found a way to win," Dirk Nowitzki said. "That's what good teams do."

Also good is that the fluff will continue for another week. The Mavericks' next three games are against Philadelphia at home, then at New Jersey and Memphis. Those teams are a combined 11-37.

Good teams get that way for logical reasons - like beating teams they are supposed to. Aside from a couple of hiccups, the Mavericks have done that. Taking care of the heavy hitters will have to wait.

Cavaliers 111, Mavericks 95

Mavericks M FG

M-A 3-pt

M-A FT

M-A Tot.

Pts. Reb.

O-T Ast. F Stl TO Blk Sea.

Avg. High

Game

Marion 36:32 5-8 0-0 2-2 12 2-6 2 3 1 1 1 12.6 18

Nowitzki 41:42 10-19 0-0 7-9 27 2-9 2 3 1 2 1 27.1 41

Gooden 22:54 1-4 0-0 4-4 6 1-6 0 4 2 3 0 8.9 22

Kidd 35:34 3-6 3-5 0-0 9 0-2 9 2 0 0 0 7.4 19

Beaubois 9:14 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 6.5 14

Terry 34:23 8-15 4-7 5-7 25 0-0 3 1 0 2 0 18.5 35

Thomas 10:11 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 8.3 23

Barea 25:50 4-7 1-2 1-1 10 0-0 3 1 0 1 0 8.6 14

Humphries 10:13 2-4 0-0 0-1 4 0-0 0 2 0 0 0 6.8 15

Singleton 10:40 1-3 0-2 0-0 2 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 2.4 10

Carroll 2:47 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0.9 5

Totals 240:00 34-72 8-19 19-24 95 5-24 20 18 5 9 2 103.4 130

Cavaliers M FG

M-A 3-pt

M-A FT

M-A Tot.

Pts. Reb.

O-T Ast. F Stl TO Blk Sea.

Avg. High

Game

James 36:21 10-20 0-2 5-7 25 0-5 12 2 0 1 0 29.2 40

Hickson 14:25 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 0 3 0 2 0 7.2 21

O'Neal 25:18 4-10 0-0 1-4 9 2-6 4 4 0 4 0 11.1 21

MWilliams 35:12 9-12 7-7 0-0 25 0-2 1 3 0 4 1 17.8 28

Parker 20:31 3-6 1-2 1-1 8 0-2 2 2 1 0 0 8.4 14

Varejao 32:09 7-7 0-0 1-1 15 5-9 2 4 1 1 0 7.1 13

Gibson 12:48 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 6.8 14

Moon 31:13 5-8 1-2 2-2 13 2-9 1 1 0 0 1 6.0 11

West 28:26 4-7 0-0 2-2 10 0-4 10 1 0 0 0 4.8 13

Jackson 1:49 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 1 0 1 0 1.9 10

JWilliams 1:48 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0

Totals 240:00 45-78 9-13 12-17 111 10-39 33 22 2 13 2 99.1 114

1 2 3 4 OT F 2FG% 3FG% TFG% FT%

DALLAS 26 29 24 16 - 95 .491 .421 .472 .792

CLEVELAND 35 33 19 24 - 111 .554 .692 .577 .706

Halftime: Cleveland 68-55 . Third quarter: Cleveland 87-79. Opponents' largest lead: 18 points. Mavericks' largest lead: 3. Lead changes: 5. Team turnovers: Dallas 10, Cleveland 14. Attendance: 20,562 (20,562 cap). Time: 2:12. Technical fouls: Miami, O'Neal, 1:00 second. Flagrant fouls: none. Officials: Joe Crawford, Scott Wall, Zach Zarba.