LeBron James vs. Dirk Nowitzki
On a night LeBron James established a new total individual assists record for his franchise, the Cleveland Cavaliers played excellent team ball in beating the Dallas Mavericks, 127-94 in a big road win on Tuesday night. IN PHOTO: Mar 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives against Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) in the fourth quarter at American Airlines Center. REUTERS/Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

On a night LeBron James established a new total individual assists record for his franchise, the Cleveland Cavaliers played excellent team ball in beating the Dallas Mavericks, 127-94 in a big road win on Tuesday night. LeBron James had 27 points in just 29 minutes and added 8 assists to break the franchise mark set by former Cavalier Mark Price, which held the previous record at 4,206 career assists. James has now a total of 4,214 assists for his career.

James shot an effective 10-of-14 field goal clip with four 3-pointers and also had 7 rebounds. The Cavaliers’ followed James’ lead on this night, finishing with a total of 25 assists for the game that saw five Cavaliers starters score in double-figures. Kevin Love had a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds while the other member of the Cleveland’s “Big Three”, Kyrie Irving had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. The other two starters, shooting guard J.R. Smith and centre Timofey Mozgov added 21 and 17 markers, respectively.

The Cavaliers built a big halftime lead, 67-53 and poured it on the Mavericks in the second half. Cleveland outscored Dallas, 32-23 in the third quarter and then 28-18 in the final quarter to give the Cavaliers one of their most lopsided wins of the season. Chandler Parsons had 18 points and Monta Ellis had 17 for the Mavericks.

Cleveland (41-25) has won back-to-back games and four of their last five games to remain in third place in the Eastern Conference standings. They are now one and a half games ahead of the Chicago Bulls (39-26) for second place in the conference. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are dropping in the Western Conference standings after losing three of their last four games and five of their last seven. Dallas (41-25) is now in seventh place in the conference and fell behind the San Antonio Spurs (40-23) by half a game.

Cleveland will continue their Texas two-step with a game against the Spurs on Thursday and a four-game road trip with games at Orlando and Miami on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Dallas will try to arrest their skid against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday and Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

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