Mavericks 109, Cavaliers 90: Monta Ellis scored 20 points to help lift visiting Dallas to its fifth straight victory.

Dirk Nowitzki added 15 points for the Mavericks, who shot 56.4 percent from the floor. Chandler Parsons, Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea finished with 14 points apiece for Dallas.

Kevin Love had a season-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds but it wasn’t enough for the Cavaliers, who have lost four of five and three of four since leading scorer LeBron James was shelved for two weeks because of left knee and lower back strains. Shawn Marion added 13 points off the bench and Matthew Dellavedova scored 10, but starting backcourt mate Kyrie Irving was limited to six points, ending his streak of five straight games with at least 23, and left in the second half with lower-back stiffness.

A 3-pointer by Devin Harris with 1:47 left in the first quarter gave the Mavericks a 24-23 lead and the Cavaliers never led again. Nowitzki’s layup on the opening possession of the second quarter stretched the advantage to five and Parsons doubled it to 49-39 with a pair of free throws with 4:16 left until the half.

Dallas maintained its 10-point edge at the break and didn’t let up against a Cleveland team that rallied to win eight games this season after trailing by double figures. The Cavaliers fought to stay within 10 the first six minutes of the third quarter but a 12-4 run by the Mavericks stretched the lead to 19 with 4:22 remaining in the third and Dallas maintained the sizable advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Cavaliers are beginning a stretch of seven of eight games against Western Conference opponents. … Love has scored at least 30 points in six of the last seven games against Dallas. … Nowitzki needs 13 points to pass Moses Malone (27,409) for seventh on NBA’s all-time scoring list.