Anderson Varejao (17) of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Dirk Nowitzki (centre) of the Dallas Mavericks, battle for a rebound in the first quarter of their NBA game in Cleveland. - Reuters

NEW YORK, (Reuters):

THE DALLAS Mavericks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-90 on Wednesday night to improve their NBA-best record to 56-11 with a fourth straight victory.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points and Jason Terry 21 as the Mavericks improved to 3-0 on their six-game road trip, shooting 47 per cent from the field and making all 17 free-throw attempts.

Nowitzki added nine rebounds for the Mavericks, who moved five games ahead of the Phoenix Suns in the overall standings and nine in front of San Antonio in the Southwest Division. There are 15 games left in the regular season.

The Mavericks had five players in double-figures in scoring and four players with at least six rebounds. Nowitzki said that depth of squad was the reason his team leads the NBA.

"We have a lot of guys on this team who are capable of producing when somebody is having an off night," Nowitzki said.

"That's why we are a great team, because other guys stepped up when we needed them."

Struggled in the first quarter

The Mavericks struggled in the first quarter and trailed 23-22, but took over for the rest of the game, piling up a 13-point lead after three quarters to beat the Cavaliers for the second time this month.

Devin Harris had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Mavericks, and Erick Dampier contributed 13 points and nine rebounds.

LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 31 points after shaking off a slow start. Drew Gooden added 19 points and eight rebounds.

Cleveland lost their second game in two nights after an eight-game winning streak, going down to a Western Conference opponent at home for just the second time in 14 games this season.