Mavs-Cavs Tonight

4th in the Western Conference takes on 4th in the East tonight in a battle of early season title hopefuls.
(AP Photo/Chuck Burton,AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dirk Nowitzki and Lebron James go head-to-head for the 13th time Saturday night (Nov.28) so I did some research to see just how these two titans have done against one-another in their careers.

Series History Since Lebron's Rookie Season:

Dallas is 7-5 against Cleveland since Lebron's rookie season in 2003-2004. The Mavericks have outscored the Cavaliers by a slim margin, 95.3-94.4 in that time span.

Nowitzki has averaged 21.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, and four assists in the 12 games against James. James has averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.2 assists in these games.

Dallas started off strong, winning seven of the first nine games between the teams. Since then, Cleveland has won the last three by an average of 18 points a game (Cleveland 96.7 - Dallas 78.7).

Nowitzki has averaged only 15.7 points in the losing streak but still averaged a double-double with 11 rebounds. James averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebound, and 7.3 assists in the victories.

This Season's Stats:

The Dallas Mavericks (12-4) are top-10 in the NBA in both offense and defense this year. Dallas is 8th in points scored (103.3), 9th in points allowed (96.2), and are first in the West in point differential (and 2nd in the NBA behind Boston, 8.7), beating opponents by an average of 7.7 points per game. Dallas is also 8th in the NBA is field goal percentage allowed at 44.1 percent and 13th in offensive shooting percentage at 46.1 percent.

The Cleveland Cavaliers (11-5) are 17th in points per game (99.1), 6th in points allowed (94.6), and 10th in point differential with an average margin of victory at 3.8. The Cavaliers are just behind Dallas at field goal percentage allowed at 8th with 44.2 percentage and 8th in team field goal percentage with 47.1 percent.

Dirk Nowitzki comes into the game 6th in the NBA in scoring at 27.1 points per to go along with 8.6 rebounds and has scored over 20 points in 11 straight games.

Lebron James is the 3rd best scorer in the league with 29.4 along with 6.8 boards and 7.8 dimes per game.

Dallas is coming off a 113-92 victory Friday night against the Indiana Pacers and are still banged up with Josh Howard and Erick Dampier expected to be in street clothes. Quinton Ross is expected to play.

Cleveland also played Friday night and lost 94-87 against the Charlotte Bobcats in Shaquille Oneal's first game back since Nov. 14 at Utah. It is still uncertain whether or not the addition of Shaq is working for Cleveland as they are 6-4 with the big man in the line-up and 5-1 when he sits.

Dallas is 7-2 on the road this year while Cleveland is 5-2 at home.

This should be a great game tonight and a test for both teams to see just where they stand early-on in the regular season. Cleveland should be pissed and ready to play after losing to the 6-9 Bobcats Friday night.

Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. locally on KTXA channel 21.