CLEVELAND — It got so bad Sunday afternoon that a referee did more damage to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers than the Dallas Mavericks did.

What started with so much promise against the NBA's best team ended in disaster after disaster for the Mavericks, who got clubbed, 102-74, by the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

Amazingly, the Mavericks led, 35-20, early in the second quarter. They then were outscored, 54-21, through the middle of the third period. They scored 11 points in the third quarter, their worst period of the season. They shot 11-of-38 (28.9 percent) in the second half.

After scoring 30 points in the first quarter, they got 44 in the last three. It was their lowest-scoring game of the season.

"We didn't put the ball in the basket, nor did we stop them in that third quarter, and that was pretty much the game," said Jason Kidd. "We shot a lot of jumpers. You live or die with the jump shot, and we died."

The only drama after the Cavs went up, 74-56, was when official Derek Richardson inadvertently got in James' way after James turned to run after a bucket.

The two collided and hit the deck hard. Richardson, 47, popped up quickly. But James, who weighs over 250 pounds, stayed on the ground for more than a minute before shaking off the cobwebs.

"When you're caught off guard, it doesn't matter how young you are," James said. "There's a possibility you're going down."

And yet, the Mavericks went down harder. Once their offense dried up, they couldn't get enough stops against the Cavaliers to hang close. James began throwing in jump shots, which made any defense against him moot.

Kidd had volunteered to guard James at the start of the game and did a commendable job as the Mavs moved ahead.

"I was fresh," said Kidd, who had missed Friday's game against Denver to rest a sore lower back. "I wasn't going to guard him the whole night. We just wanted to give him a different look. It worked a little in the first half. But as well as we played, we were only up two. And then we gave him jump shots, and he knocked them down."

James finished with 24 points, hitting six of 11 shots in the third quarter after a 3-of-11 first half. He sat the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks have lost two in a row and five of eight. While they still have a nice cushion on Phoenix for the final playoff spot, the Sunday loss turns Tuesday's visit to Minnesota into a desperately needed win.

"We've had disappointing games, and we've always had to bounce back and for the most part, we've been able to," coach Rick Carlisle said. "But the truth is this: Every game is tough. This is a championship-caliber team, and you can't have any letdowns at all. Our third-quarter letdown cost us. But we don't have time to mope."