DALLAS -- The Cleveland Cavaliers lost their way into the NBA record book in fitting fashion -- not with a blowout, but with the kind of head-slapping plays typical of a team that can't do anything right.

Like a 7-foot center losing a jump ball to a 6-foot-2 guard. And a decent outside shooter deciding to pass as time expired instead of putting up a potential tying 3-pointer.

The miscues doomed the Cavs to a 99-96 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, making it 25 straight losses, the most in league history no matter how it's counted.

Cleveland set the single-season futility record a few days ago, but the league also keeps an overall losing streak record that takes into account skids stretched over two seasons. This topped that one, too, making the first year of the post-LeBron James era even more forgettable for the Cavaliers. The previous mark also was set by the Cavs, spanning the end of the 1981-82 season and the start of 1982-83.

"We're in the record books, we all know that, something we don't want to be a part of, but you can't go back and turn back the hands of time," forward Antawn Jamison said. "We've got to worry about moving forward. The most important thing is getting a win."

They had a chance to get this one, even against a team that came in with the NBA's longest active winning streak.

The Cavs led by seven in the first quarter, got down by 15, but kept clawing back. They tied it early in the fourth quarter, then were down only 80-79 when center Ryan Hollins lined up for a jump ball against Dallas guard Jason Terry.

It was an odd scene. Terry crouched a bit to get more leverage into his jump and his head was around the logo on Hollins' jersey. Yet the little guy got to the ball first, timing his jump so that he popped it to a teammate before it got up to Hollins. Terry actually hit it before the toss reached its peak, which is known as "stealing" a jump ball.