Dallas coach Rick Carlisle addressed several topics prior to Saturday’s game in Cleveland. Carlisle and the Mavericks enter the game at 5-5.

On the Cavs:

“They’re a big pick-and-roll team, with a lot of playmakers, starting with the two guards (Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters). And the other guy who’s a really great playmaker for them is (Anderson) Varejao. So we’ve gotta work at neutralizing those three guys.”

On rebounding:

“We’ve got to be mindful of (Varejao’s) presence, his activity and get a body on him best we can. For us, five guys have to go get the ball every single time.”

On Mavs shooting guard and former Ohio Mr. Basketball O.J. Mayo:

“We talked to him this summer. We needed a starting shooting guard, and he wanted to be in Dallas. He’s done a great job so far, works extremely hard, and he’s a student of the game. He wants to be a terrific player. I don’t know what happened in Memphis. They were different in terms of personnel. We had a really strong need for a guy who could start at that position. The timing was right.”