Scene Setter:
DALLAS, TX – The 76ers (8-46) finish up a two-game road trip on Sunday at 7:00 PM with their lone stop of the season at American Airlines Center. They’ll go up against a Dallas Mavericks (29-27) team searching for a spark amidst a critical stretch of its season. The Mavericks are trying to secure playoff positioning in the packed middle-tier of the Western Conference. Both the Sixers and Mavs dropped close decisions in their first outings back from the NBA All-Star Game break. Despite never holding a lead in Friday’s 121-114 loss to New Orleans at Smoothie King Center, the Sixers made a run at the Pelicans, trimming a deficit that – at one point – had stood as large as 22 points down to one point with just over 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Sixers relied on a reenergizing third period to get back in the game, outscoring New Orleans 35-21 in the frame. Jahlil Okafor cranked out all 14 of his points in the third before fouling out with just over six minutes to go in regulation. Nerlens Noel was steady throughout the evening, tallying a season-best 24 points (10-15 fg). In the end, Anthony Davis, who notched a game-best 34 points (9-22 fg, 16-20 ft), and the bench duo of Jrue Holiday (24 pts, 12 ast) and Ryan Anderson (26 pts), proved to be too much. Dallas was also in action on Friday, falling to the Orlando Magic in overtime, 110-104, at Amway Center. In the back-and-forth battle, the Mavericks found themselves behind, 31-13, following 12 minutes of play. Then, in the second quarter, Dallas turned things around. They burst for 38 points to draw within five points at intermission, before outscoring Orlando 30-16 in the third period. Magic guard Evan Fournier locked up the tilt at 98-98 with 12.2 seconds remaining, setting the stage for his squad to clinch its triumph in the extra period. The overtime bout marked the third in a row for the Mavericks. They’ve come up short in the last two of these games, and have now competed in an NBA-high nine overtime affairs. As of Saturday, Dallas occupied the sixth-seed in the Western Conference, but has three teams within 1.5 games of that spot. Series: In their first pairing with Dallas back during the third week of the season, the Sixers came close to breaking out of their current funk against the Mavericks. The Mavs seized control of the match-up quickly, outdoing the Sixers 28-15 in the opening quarter. While the Sixers were seven points better than Dallas the rest of the way, the Mavericks had built up enough early insurance to hang on for a 92-86 victory. Jahlil Okafor paced the Sixers with 19 points (8-15 fg) and 11 rebounds, churning out what was his third double-double of the season. Nerlens Noel turned in a double-double as well, with 12 points (5-12 fg) and 12 rebounds. The Mavericks have taken six straight meetings from the Sixers, and the last nine contests that the clubs have played in Dallas. The Sixers’ previous victory at American Airlines Center occurred over 11 years ago, on January 29th, 2005. Subplots:
After having roughly half a day to review and mull over the Sixers’ seven-point loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Brett Brown zeroed in on a specific area that he wanted to address with his club during Saturday’s 90-minute practice session at Smoothie King Center. Given the way Friday’s game played out, it was not entirely surprising to hear what it was that Brown identified as his primary point of emphasis.”Defense,” said Brown. “The pieces to it, from transition, to pick-and-roll, to just general guard-your-man technique.”In two narrow defeats to the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings that fed into the NBA All-Star Game break, the Sixers were unable to protect fourth quarter leads. Friday, in New Orleans, an inverse development took place.”We did not guard at the start of [Friday],” Brown said of his team, against which the Pelicans converted 59.1 percent of their shots in Friday’s first quarter. The Sixers spotted New Orleans 37 points in the frame. “We did not defend in the fourth period against Sacramento to close out a game. Our focus was all that. And just trying to grow us and end our season playing with a sting that I think we play with. We dig ourselves a hole, so having to fight out of the hole gets old at times, so we want to just play harder, smarter, longer.”Brown added, “The key word to me is ‘longer.’ The NBA game is long. Forty eight minutes is long. If you want to stay in the league, if you really want to win games, you have to play that duration.”Ish Smith, the Sixers’ starting point guard, matched a career-high by swiping four steals on Saturday. He had his own take on a factor that could benefit the Sixers moving forward. “Just communicating, talking, even if you’re wrong sometimes,” said Smith. “I had a coach tell me, ‘If you talk, you’re never wrong.’ So, I guess just communicating, telling everybody, you know, early, continuous.””I always have thought that the really good teams, really good defensive teams, they used to talk. Talk, talk, talk throughout the whole game, and practices they’re chattering and talking so that’s what it takes for us to be a really good defensive team.”
For just the second time in the last 15 years, Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki was not selected to the Western Conference All-Star team. That Nowitzki missed out on last weekend’s festivities in Toronto should by no means suggest that the 37-year old is not still producing at an impressive rate.Entering Sunday, Nowitzki topped the Mavericks in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game. He also ranked second in rebounding, with 6.6 boards per contest, and is second on the team in three-point accuracy, having connected on 38.1 percent of his triple attempts. Brett Brown has long-observed and respected Nowitzki’s 18-year career.”Even though I’ve been around for a while, I haven’t really spent time with him, around Dirk,” said Brown, whose 12-year assistant coaching stint with San Antonio preceded his tenure with the Sixers. “I have spent lots of time with people who have been with him. Dirk’s sort of practice habits, and his discipline to practicing professionally, his attention to detail, and the fact that he would put in great day’s work, I think is a thing that we all should step back and say that’s why he’s been able to navigate an amazing career like he has.”Nowitzki’s 28,990 career points represent the second-highest total among active NBA players. He is sixth on the league’s all-time scoring chart. “There was a stage of his basketball career that I felt that he was the hardest person to defend in the NBA,” said Brown. “Out of all those great players in the West, from Kobe [Bryant], to [Kevin] Durant, there was a period of time where he was the most difficult to prepare for because of his height. He could shoot. He just was really very professional on how he prepared himself in practice to get to the level that he is at.” Of note is that Nowitzki’s touch has been off a bit his past three games. During this stretch, he’s gone 16 for 47 from the field, and four for 19 from three-point territory. He deposited a game-high 21 points when Dallas and the Sixers met for the first time on November 16th at The Center.
Prior to Friday, the Dallas Mavericks had never before participated in three consecutive overtime games in the 36-year history of their franchise. This stretch began with a February 6th 114-110 road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Since then, Dallas – in back-to-back games – has bowed to the Utah Jazz, 121-119, and the Orlando Magic, 110-104. Heading into Friday’s confrontation with Orlando, the Mavericks had gone nine consecutive days without playing a game. Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle refused to give credence to the theory that rust contributed to his team squandering a nine-point advantage with just under seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter. “That’s not an excuse,” Carlisle told reporters after the Mavericks’ defeat to the Magic. “That’s not a surprise. A team gets off to a shaky start against athletes like this, we hung, found a way to get the thing back even, we just didn’t make enough plays.”Dallas has now lost five of its past six games. “We got to stick together, and we’ve got to make a stand,” said Carlisle on Friday. “We’ve won one out of the last whatever it is, and we’ve got to stick together and we’ve got to finish games.”One area in which Carlisle feels the Mavs must improve is ball movement. “I got to look at it,” he said. “I told the team, there’s nobody in indelible marker as a closer on this team with the exception of Dirk [Nowitzki] and D-Will [Deron Williams]. Those two guys are going to be in there. The rest of it has got to be earned.”Nowitzki and Williams rank first and second, respectively, in points per game for Dallas.
Sixers Health Report:
Jerami Grant (corneal abrasion)
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