Dirk Nowitzki, left, tries to lay the ball in over the Cavs' Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the first quarter.
		By Mark Duncan, AP

The Cavaliers were low-key about their accomplishment, leaving the floor without celebrating.

"We have bigger goals than that," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "If the fans want to celebrate and the city wants to celebrate, that's fine. We expected to be in the playoffs."

James was relentless driving to the basket and shot 16-of-23, adding five rebounds and four assists as he led the Cavaliers to their sixth straight win.

He played long after the game was out of reach, and took a couple vicious fouls before finally leaving to a standing ovation with 2:18 left.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points and Jerry Stackhouse had 23 to lead Dallas, which has lost three of four.

The Mavericks (54-18) fell to 1½ games behind San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Cleveland trailed by one at halftime and opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run, capped by Drew Gooden's three-point play to go up 57-49.

The Cavaliers never looked back as James scored 19 in the third. He was fouled while hitting yet another layup with seven-tenths of a second left, inspiring Brown to pump his fist on the sideline. James hit the free throw for an 83-65 lead.

"LeBron just took over like he always does," said Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas , who finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Dallas made James pay for his points with two flagrant fouls.

Erick Dampier hammered James as he drove baseline to the rim with 4:59 left in the third quarter. James was a bit slow getting up, but hit his free throws and came right back on the next possession, scoring on a three-point play for a 73-59 lead.

Then Didier Ilunga-Mbenga hit James in the head with 7:35 left, knocking his headband off and slamming him to the floor.

The Cavaliers' 35-point third quarter was in stark contrast to the eight points they scored in the period at Dallas on March 14 while blowing 19-point lead.

The Mavericks looked sluggish in the second half a night after losing at Detroit. Seven of their 18 losses have come in the second game of back to backs.

Notes: James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 6,000 points. He also has 2,215 points this season, breaking the Cavaliers single-season record that he set last season with 2,175. ... The Mavericks are 6-12 when allowing at least 100 points.