There's something to be said for a dead-quiet arena - it's easy to hear what's going on on the basketball court.

The first thing you notice with the Cleveland Cavaliers is that LeBron James is the vocal leader of the team. Whether up 20 or down two, LeBron is constantly barking out orders and encouraging his teammates to play harder, get back on defense, or to take open shots. LeBron is in command.

The Mavericks . . .not so much. There was a lot of head-hanging and staring off into space tonight, as the Cavs built a huge first quarter lead, let the Mavs back in, and then slammed them back down in the fourth quarter. Cleveland held Dallas to 28% shooting in the first, when Dallas trailed 16-28. They then shot 56% in the fourth to just 27% for the Mavs as they eased their way to a 100-81 win.

Cavs coach Mike Brown was understandably enthusiastic after the game, having seen his team put together their most complete game of the season. He spoke pregame about the need to reduce unforced turnovers, and the team responded with an 11 turnover night - just one of which came in the fourth.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle seemed relatively indifferent to the loss. Unlike Avery Johnson, who would have been hot, Carlisle talked more about what the team would face on Tuesday night in San Antonio than about what he's just witnessed on the court. Of course, it's easy to understand why he would want to immediately put tonight's game out of his mind.

Jason Terry said he felt the early deficit hurt the team, making it harder for them to sustain their level of play when they finally caught up. Jason Kidd didn't think that was as big an issue as the Mavericks' failure to play any team defense. That's the theme you're going to hear a lot in the coming weeks: the Mavericks play no defense.

They certainly helped the Cleveland Cavaliers look like NBA champions tonight.

Most of the talk pre-game was, of course, about the big trade today. Rick Carlisle knows Chauncey Billups well, and said that if he was going to be traded, being traded home to Denver was probably a good thing. From Mike Brown, LeBron James, and Carlisle the consensus is that it's a good trade for both teams. Carlisle pointed out that Billups makes everyone else better, more so than Iverson, but it might be offset by the scoring Iverson brings to the table.

Down to business with these two teams.

The Mavericks are still trying to figure out their starting lineup. Antoine Wright started throughout preseason, but struggled when the season started. Jerry Stackhouse played more at the five against the Timberwolves, but his shooting touch is so far gone it's hard to leave him in the game. He has a few nagging injuries, but at his age that's a way of life. Gerald Green gave the Mavs the same spark in Minny that he gave them throughout preseason and Carlisle said he plans to use Gerald more.

Rick had us cracking up in talking about Gerald's area of improvement. He said Gerald has to learn to play the game on the ground, especially on the defensive end. Gerald has an amazing leaping ability, and sometimes he gets fakes on the defensive end and Rick said it takes Gerald 3-4 seconds to come down. By then his man is by him. I think that's a compliment to Gerland's hops . . .

The Cavaliers are turning the ball over too much for Mike Brown's taste, but he said he knows that's largely a function of having a new point guard and a new system in place. He's confident that Mo Williams was the missing piece, and that the Cavs are contenders even in the new and improved East.

Brown is playing LeBron at the four some, and says he plans to expand that practice a little bit. Right now he's playing LeBron at the four from about the 6:00 mark of the first quarter to about the 2:00 mark - and the same in the third quarter. LeBron joked that it's going to improve his rebounding numbers, and get him closer to his ideal stat line: 22 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists. That tells you something about LeBron's trust in his teammates.

LeBron also said he thinks Jason Kidd will make the Mavericks contenders in the West once everyone gets on his page. He played with Kidd for Team USA and said every single day Kidd would share insights with him that would make his game better.

So we're tipping off in Dallas . . .check back postgame for more from both locker rooms!

The first week of a new season is all about finding out where you stand in the league, and few teams have found out to the degree that the Cleveland Cavaliers have. Losses to the Boston Celtics and a New Orleans Hornets team that was without two starters gives the Cavs an idea of exactly where they stand as of today, and it a tier below the elite teams in the NBA.

It hasn't been that much better for the Dallas Mavericks, who have been cast aside by division rival Houston and then got all they could handle from the young Minnesota Timberwolves before finally getting a win in Minnesota.

It's still early, of course, and these two teams have had some changes over the offseason. The Cavs have a new point guard in Mo Williams who should make them better in the long run. The Mavs have a new coaching staff and are still trying to figure out what their gameplan is with Jason Kidd at the helm. The more they focus on their new offense, the worse their formerly league-leading defense gets.

One of these teams will get a much-needed win tonight, but both still have plenty of work to do to get ready for the dog days of December.

We'll have more from both locker rooms pregame!