Branson Wright of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that things have really gone south for the Cavaliers. After scratching and clawing to get back into last night?s game against the Philadelphia, they came up short as Allen Iverson and the Sixers stole the game in the end.  The loss extended their losing streak to 13 games.

But the biggest news came after the game when Cavs coach John Lucas announced that Ricky Davis had been suspended by the team for disciplinary reasons. According to Lucas, Davis will miss the Cavs' next two games, which includes tonight's game against Miami and Monday's game at New York.

Davis had heated words with teammate Tyrone Hill during the third quarter. Both Davis and Hill were benched for the fourth quarter as rookies Dejuan Wagner and Carlos Boozer helped lead the Cavaliers comeback. Neither Davis nor Hill  would comment on the game.

"We have some issues that aren't about the team, so I'm going to address those because we have to be about the team of basketball," Lucas said. "I didn't put Ricky back in because Dajuan was playing well. Boozer was playing very well and that's why he was in."

This isn?t the first time that Lucas and Davis have clashed this season. Two weeks ago, Lucas took Davis out of the first quarter in a game with Indiana when Davis had a heated conversation with teammate Bimbo Coles. Davis sat for the entire first half and he remained in the locker room, under Lucas' orders, during the second half. Davis didn't start in the Cavs' following game.

Lucas announced that a second player had been suspended as well. Wright did not report who the second player is, but he does write that Tyrone Hill was not suspended for his argument with Davis.

Every year the number of underclassmen that declare for the NBA draft rises. While the reasons vary from player to player, it often comes down to the green stuff being the deciding factor. Cleveland Cavs center DeSagana Diop says he would have made out quite nicely had he went to college, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Diop went straight to the NBA from high school, but said he received offers of cars and apartments from several schools.

"College players need to get paid," Diop said. "They would have a better chance of getting the top players to stay in school. If there was some money available, I would've at least thought about playing in college."

Cavs forward Jumaine Jones, who played for two years at Georgia, said college basketball and football players should receive some type of compensation.

"Those two sports are bringing in the most money," Jones said. "Especially at a school like Georgia. But even if I was getting paid in school, I still would've went pro when I did. We lost about seven seniors and we were going to be a team full of walk-ons. My decision was easy."

The Cavs (2-7) had the NBA's last remaining undefeated team on the ropes with a 13-point lead in the third quarter but the Mavs rallied for their eighth straight victory.

The Cavs got a career night by Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had a career-high 34 points and 14 rebounds. Jumaine Jones, in his first start of the season, had 23 points. Davis came off the bench and had 19.

Michael Finley led the Mavs with 26 and Dirk Nowitzki, who had four points through the first three quarters, finished with 17.

It was the Cavs' fifth straight loss, but Lucas and guard Bimbo Coles were happy about other changes.

"I absolutely loved the way we played tonight," Lucas said.

"We moved the basketball and we had 27 assists and did all the things that a basketball team needs to do."

Coles said the offense was finally in gear.

"All we had to do was be patient and that's what we did," Coles said. "If we make cuts and reads you can get a lot of good shots in our offense and that's what we did. Except we didn't do that during the fourth quarter. We just didn't make shots."

Ilgauskas was making all of the shots during the third, scoring 12 points. On one play, Ilgauskas saved the ball from going out of bounds with a pass to the cutting Tyrone Hill. Hill made the layup for an 11-point lead, but Ilgauskas was not finished. He nailed consecutive free throws and hit a jumper to extend the Cavs' lead.

"We couldn't guard Ilgauskas at all," said Mavs coach Don Nelson.

The Cavs were cruising and led, 71-58, with three minutes left in the period. Steve Nash and Nowitzki, who average 17 and 22 points respectively, combined for 12 in the third.

The Mavs needed someone to step up and they got it in Walt Williams. Williams nailed two 3-pointers during a 12-0 run that brought Dallas within 71-70 heading into the fourth. The Mavs also received help off the bench from Avery Johnson, who finished with 12.

"A.J. and Walt Williams kept our heads above water when we were about to drown," Nelson said.

Davis, Ilgauskas and Jones rallied the Cavs early in the fourth. The Mavs finally got some scoring out of Nowitzki, who scored six straight points for a three-point lead. The Cavs and Mavs battled but Davis broke the ice with a steal and a spectacular slam over Nash for a two-point lead.

"That's one of my best dunks ever," Davis said. "I rank it with my tip slam I got in Philadelphia."

Unfortunately for the Cavs, their shooting went stale. By the time they made their next field goal, the Mavs were leading by three with 10 seconds left. Turnovers and costly fouls were too much to overcome.

"We had some costly turnovers and I had a couple of them down the stretch," Milt Palacio said. "Walt Williams' shots hurt us and those were momentum breakers but the character of this team tonight was encouraging after playing terrible one night and playing well the next night."

Branson Wright of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Cavs coach John Lucas has finally found a way to cut back on Ricky Davis? minutes. Davis was benched in the first quarter of last night?s 95-75 loss to Indiana Pacers and never returned.

Lucas said last week that he wanted to limit Davis? time on the floor. Through the first seven games of the season, Davis had averaged over 40 minutes. He was sent to the bench with six minutes remaining against the Pacers and did not see action for the rest of the first half. In fact he never came out of the locker room for the second half.

The blowup reportedly started during an heated on-court discussion between Davis and Cavs guard Bimbo Coles in the first quarter. Lucas then replaced Davis with Milt Palacio during a timeout. Coles would not comment on the exchange between himself and Davis. Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said whatever happened in the locker room would stay in the locker room. Lucas, meanwhile, said he just decided not to play Davis.

"I just wanted to go another way," Lucas said. "When the game got out of hand, it gave us an opportunity to play and look at some of our young guys."

Davis did not return to the court with his teammates after half time. Immediately after the game, Davis slipped past the media and out of the locker room. He was escorted to the team bus by several members of the Conseco Fieldhouse security.

Branson Wright of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Cavalier?s Tyrone Hill is upset about the lack of respect his team is getting. It?s not the fans or the press that are annoying Hill, he believes the officials are not showing the Cavs the respect they deserve.

In Friday?s loss to the Wizards, the Cavaliers were whistled for more personal fouls (34-21) and they shot only half of the free throws that the Wizards did (22-43). These two factors contributed greatly to the 107-100 win by the Wizards.  

"It's about respect," Hill said. "We're not getting that right now. It's because of our reputation of not being that good for the past few years. I guess some people think that can't change."

Maybe it?s because of the Cavs? losing tradition or maybe it?s because of their jump-shooting styl;e from last season, but Hill contends that this year?s club is not the same. "We're a different team now," Hill said. "Guys like Darius [Miles], Ricky [Davis] and Z [Zydrunas Ilgauskas] are aggressive on offense and they don't go to the free-throw line nearly enough. I mean, you have guys like [second-year Wizards forward] Kwame Brown going to the line more than Z."

Brown went 6-8 from the line while Ilgauskas did not attempt a free throw.

"Our lack of respect won't last forever," Hill said. "There was a time when teams like Philly, Dallas and New Jersey were at the bottom. But they changed things around with better players and we have good players now. One day soon our big scorers will get the respect they deserve."

Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that Allen Iverson didn?t break his thumb like he thought on Wednesday. An MRI exam revealed a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament and a small incomplete fracture in Iverson's thumb. His thumb will be stabilized in a brace and he will be tested on a daily basis.

So will Iverson be in uniform against the Cavaliers tonight? It?s a definite possibility. This is the same Iverson that was supposed to miss 2-4 weeks with a chip fracture on the middle finger of his right hand during the pre-season, only to return after 5 days.

Iverson will test himself in the morning sootarouind to decide whether he can play or not. If he can?t go, coach Larry Brown will probably move Aaron McKie to Iverson?s shooting guard position and bring in one of his big men to start.