Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Dallas Mavericks 03/22/2016

Fatigue may be starting to set in for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The team is in the midst of a grueling stretch, and coach Tyronn Lue has said he'll try to find rest for some players as the Cavaliers play the first of three games in four days Wednesday night against the visiting Dallas Mavericks.

Cleveland (47-19) is coming off a back-to-back to end a four-game swing out West. It rolled to a 114-90 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday before failing to complete a perfect trip with a 94-85 loss to Utah the next night.

"I thought just coming into it I felt we lost our legs, just try to keep motivating them, keep them going, keep them encouraged," said Lue, whose club visits Orlando on Friday and Miami on Saturday. "I just thought we just couldn't get that pace up."

It was the Cavaliers' lowest-scoring performance and worst shooting night (39.8 percent) since a 96-83 loss to Chicago on Jan. 23.

"I don't think it's a step back," said LeBron James, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds. "We still have an opportunity to get better in our next game."

James was 10 of 20 from the field while fellow starters Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith combined to shoot 28.3 percent (13 of 46). Cleveland took 42 3-pointers and hit just 10.

"We had our chance," James said. "We definitely settled for the outside shot too much tonight and didn't get into the paint."

The Cavaliers set a franchise record with 44 attempts from beyond the arc in the first meeting with Dallas (34-33) on Jan. 12. They converted 17 of those en route to a 110-107 overtime win behind 27 points from James and 22 from Irving.

Cleveland is among the NBA leaders with a 35.8 percentage on 3s, while the Mavericks rank in the top 10 in 3-point field-goal defense at 33.8.

Dallas ended a season-high five-game losing streak with a 107-96 win at Charlotte on Monday. The Mavericks snapped the Hornets' season-best seven-game run by using a smaller lineup, with guard Raymond Felton starting in place of center Zaza Pachulia.

"We just had really good energy, focus, togetherness," coach Rick Carlisle said. "We were playing relatively small, so we needed everybody to be very vigilant about being on the boards. That's our best chance to win and we did that tonight."

Chandler Parsons had 24 points and nine rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki added 23 and 11 to lead five Mavericks in double-figure scoring.

"We're playing for our playoff life," said Parsons, who scored 25 in the first matchup with the Cavaliers. "We'll keep working and try to build from this."

That's something Cleveland center Tristan Thompson is expecting Wednesday.

"These teams are going to give you everything they've got," Thompson said. "Dallas is in eighth right now, the Jazz are in ninth or whatever, they're all fighting each other to move up a spot so it's definitely kind of a playoff feel. ... But it's like that every night. We're the Cavaliers. We're going to get every team's best shot."

Dallas has held the Cavaliers to 94.0 points and 39.5 percent shooting while averaging 104.7 and 51.1 percent from the field in winning its last three visits to Cleveland.

Cavaliers vs. Wizards NBA - March 4 2016

Eastern Conference teams clash for the final time this season as the Cleveland Cavaliers host the Washington Wizards at the Quicken Loans Arena in the National Basketball Association.

The matchup is on March 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

This is the fourth and final meeting between the two rivals as the Wizards are looking to win the season series against the Cavaliers, while Cleveland are hoping to get a win to even the score.

In the second meeting in Ohio this year, the Wizards surprisingly won their first battle this year as they now have a 2-1 series advantage.

Despite struggling early in the season, the Wizards have done just enough to beat one of the best teams in the East in the Cavaliers.

They have a solid lineup as Bradley Beal and John Wall are very capable of taking over a game at any point and they did exactly that in their first battle in Ohio.

Wall had a spectacular game that night, scoring 35 points and dishing out 10 assists in the victory.

Even more impressive was his 14-of-24 shooting on the night as Washington overcame 24 points and 13 rebounds from LeBron James to get the win.

Cleveland got their revenge in their next battle as James continued his excellent game with 34 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, while Wall had 20 points and 12 assists in the loss.

The Cavaliers scored 38 points in the second quarter to open the game up and coasted to a 121-115 victory.

However, this would not be the case in the third meeting as James sat out and, as a result, the Wizards pounded their rivals to a 113-99 win.

Wall had another double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Kyrie Irving carried the load with 28 points and six assists.

Game 2: Wizards vs. Pacers preview

 Roy Hibbert's disappearing act is wearing thin in Indianapolis.

Pacers fans are so angry, they want him benched or traded. Critics have made Hibbert the target of jokes. Teammates are desperately trying to coax their All-Star center out of his funk, and even ultra-positive coach Frank Vogel knows it's time for Hibbert to start playing big.

The Pacers need it now, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, more than ever.

"We tell Roy all the time how much we're going to need him in this series and this playoff run," Paul George said Tuesday. "You know it's up to Roy to just come through and deliver for us."

Lately, the 7-foot-2, 290-pound veteran hasn't been able to do much.

In the seven-game series against Atlanta, Hibbert averaged 5.3 points and 3.7 rebounds and shot just 37.2 percent from the field. His minutes dwindled from 30 in Game 1 to 12 1/2 in Game 6. The runner-up for the league's defensive player of the year award didn't even have a block until Game 4. And for the first time in his playoff career, he finished Game 6 with no points and no rebounds.

Somehow, the Pacers still managed to tie the series, and in Game 7, the old Hibbert returned with 13 points, seven rebounds and five blocks as the Pacers beat Atlanta 92-80. That performance brought back the cheers and rekindled hope that Hibbert had finally exorcised his demons.

Monday night's poor performance against Washington showed everyone that Game 7 was merely an anomaly.

Again, Hibbert got into early foul trouble against the Wizards, missed his only two shots, and got pushed around by the smaller Marcin Gortat. He finished with no points and no rebounds in a 102-96 Game 1 loss and afterward was pulled aside by some of his teammates. On Tuesday, Hibbert promised to be more effective Wednesday night.

"I'll just try to be a little more aggressive on both ends and just not be content with letting their guards and forwards get defensive rebounds," Hibbert said. "I've got to do a good job putting a body on Nene and Gortat, so I'm just going to go out there and pursue."

What's wrong?

Nobody, including Hibbert, has been able to pinpoint the problem, though it's not the first time he has endured something like this.

After Indiana matched Portland's four-year, $58 million offer in the summer of 2012, Hibbert had an abysmal first half of the season. As the struggles wore on, Pacers fans increasingly questioned whether the team made the right move. Some even linked the big contract to Hibbert's struggles, suggesting Indiana's biggest player cared more about getting his money than winning a title.

The truth was Hibbert cared too much about living up to the price tag and eventually got caught thinking too much on the court rather than just reacting to the game.

Now it seems to be happening all over again.

"Roy's just got to clear his mind, demand the ball in the paint and get the ball where he wants it in the paint," George said. "You know when he gets to where he's able to be a threat and he's able to make a move without putting the ball on the ground, it's going in almost every time."

Of course, the Wizards figured out how to prevent that in Game 1.

Gortat finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds on a night the Wizards held a commanding 53-36 advantage on the glass and a 19-5 edge in second-chance points.

"We try to make sure none of their bigs are going to catch the ball in the paint easily, try to make their life a little bit harder and miserable," Gortat said.

Hibbert's job is to find a way to change that, and teammates and coaches are convinced he will.

"I think mentally he wants to do more," Vogel said. "He's giving maximum effort, and he's going to continue to study (film) to see how he can be more productive.

"If Roy Hibbert is on the court," Vogel added, "it's because I think he can help us win the next possession in that stretch of that game and help us win that game."