Cavs-Mavericks In-Game Report

End 3Q: Mavs 79, Cavs 69
* Antawn Jamison and Ramon Sessions are doing what they can, but the Mavs keep hitting big 3s just when the Cavs start to make a game of it.

* Jamsion scored 10 points in the third quarter and has 22 for the game, while Sessions has 15 points and eight assists, which ties his season high. But the Cavs aren't getting much help from anywhere else.

* The Mavs, meanwhile, have four starters in double figures despite missing both Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler. Jason Kidd is the only starter not in double figures, and he has eight points, five assists, four rebounds and a couple of steals.

Half: Mavericks 55, Cavs 47
* After a great first quarter, Antawn Jamison took just one shot in six minutes. Without Daniel Gibson on the floor, Jamison needs to get more shots up than that.

* Tyson Chandler is enjoying not having to worry about Anderson Varejao. He hasn't missed (5 of 5). He's got 11 points and five rebounds.

* Ramon Sessions comes with plenty of good and plenty of bad. He does a great job of pushing the offense the way Byron Scott likes, but sometimes he gets a little out of control. Sessions had 14 points and five assists in the first half, but he also had three turnovers. He might need to dial it down a gear at times.

End 1Q: Mavs 27, Cavs 25
* This is the second night in a row the Cavs have fought back from a big deficit. They managed to fall behind by 14 already to the Mavericks in the first quarter, but Ramon Sessions' jumper before the buzzer cut it to 2. Double-digit deficits have been the Cavs' undoing this season, but they fought back last night against Chicago, too.

* This goes wtihout saying, but the absence of Anderson Varejao is crushing. The Mavericks had spurts where it looked like playground basketball with the alley-oops and drives to the basket. Scott is hopefuly Varejao can return Wednesday when the Cavs host the Raptors.

* This is what happens with youth: At one point, it looked like Manny Harris ran the wrong way when Mo Williams was trying to run a play. Later, J.J. Hickson got caught in the air with nowhere to go and turned the ball over on a bad pass. Those growing pains will only grow as Harris gets more minutes and Christian Eyenga debuts (he hasn't yet, but he's expected to play tonight).

* Antawn Jamison is clearly being more aggressive offensively. He hit his last three shots to spark the Cavs' 18-6 run that closed the quarter.

* As expected, the Mavs are without Dirk Nowitzki as well as Caron Butler.