What is the story about?
Now, that’s how you handle a back-to-back.
After beating the red-hot New York Knicks Friday, the Sixers returned home Saturday to beat the Dallas Mavericks 121-114. The Sixers have now won three of their last four and sit at 16-11 overall.
The Sixers were yet again led by the electric backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. Maxey finished with a game-high 38 points on 15-of-31 from the field and 5-of-1 from three. Edgecombe was right behind him with 16 points on 10-of-21. They each added four assists
and had just one combined turnover between them. Dominick Barlow tied a career high with 21 points.
Impressive rookie Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis paced the Mavericks with 24 points apiece.
The Sixers were without Joel Embiid, who missed his second straight game with designations of an illness and right knee injury management. Paul George was out for the second half of the back-to-back. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford remained sidelined. The Mavericks are still missing Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II was recently ruled out for the season.
Here are a few takeaways from Xfinity Mobile Arena.
First quarter
- It was a nice defensive start for Barlow, who came up with a nice trail block of Anthony Davis in transition. A couple possessions laters, Barlow picked the pocket of Flagg and took it the other way for a dunk. What a find he’s been.
- Maxey buried his first three, then found Edgecombe for a difficult and-one finish in transition. It looked like the Sixers would keep rolling from last night, but then they missed a bunch of bunnies — notably, Quentin Grimes missed a pair of transition layups against his former team. It caused Nick Nurse to burn an early timeout to steady things.
- Holy moly, VJ Edgecombe. Much like he did in the fourth quarter at MSG, the rookie took this game over. He hit a pair of midrange shots, the second being an and-one. Moments later, he drilled a three and was fouled for another and-one. He finished with a 14-point first quarter. This kid is unreal.
- Turnovers were a big help for the Sixers. They forced seven Dallas turnovers while only committing one. It’s the biggest reason they led 38-33 despite shooting 37.5% from the field. The margin would’ve been even bigger, but Jabari Walker picked up an absolutely egregious foul on a three-quarter court heave by Naji Marshall with 0.3 second left.
Second quarter
- Another solid start to the quarter for Barlow. He had a nice and-one finish on Davis off the glass and a strong drive a couple possessions later. He’s just an opportunistic player. He picked his spots to the tune of 16 points.
- Grimes’ struggles continued. He missed a three badly and was later blocked by Davis at the rim. He’s proven to be very streaky this season.
- Another three for Andre Drummond. What a wild turn of events. Drummond struggled with Davis at times — some of it looking like fatigue from playing the previous night, some of it being that AD is just good at basketball.
- The Sixers got sloppy with a couple live ball turnovers of their own — the last one led to Edgecombe picking up his third foul and forcing him to sit. The Mavs hung around, briefly taking a lead, but a Maxey surge near the end of the half was huge. His three-level scoring was on full display as he got the Sixers back out in front.
- Maxey led all scorers with 22 at the half. Turnovers continued to be the story. Dallas shot 56.4 from the field, but their 11 giveaways mitigated that a little. The Sixers held a 68-62 advantage.
Third quarter
- It was a brutal start to the second half. A quick 10-0 Mavs’ run run forced an early timeout from Nurse as Dallas went in front. Edgecombe stopped the bleeding after the break with a nice drive, his first bucket since that great first quarter
- Barlow continued to be aggressive with another successful drive to the basket, picking up a foul on P.J. Washington. His 21 points were not only a season high, but it tied a career high.
- Flagg is really freaking good. He had a nasty two-hand flush on a baseline cut. Give Drummond credit for not making a business decision, but it was a serious dunk by Flagg,
- Grimes finally got his first bucket of the night, followed by his second one off a Jared McCain steal. The Sixers struggled to find their footing all quarter, but they kept it close. Flagg and Marshall’s size and ability to finish were a problem all night.
- And another 20-point night for Edgecombe, his fourth in a row.
- The Sixers just couldn’t seem to get that big basket or stop to swing momentum back in their favor. They continued to struggle at the rim and from three. It was another brutal third quarter in a season full of them. Dallas took the period 35-23 and held a 97-91 advantage heading to the fourth.
Fourth quarter
- Apparently Adem Bona was a little jealous of Drummond. He got into the act with a corner three of his own as the shot clock was winding down. It got the Sixers within one. A Maxey drive gave the Sixers the lead back, 99-98.
- Again it was the Sixers’ homegrown guard trio leading the way down the stretch. Maxey was doing his usual fourth-quarter thing, while Edgecombe and McCain helped relieve some pressure and got out in transition. Nurse was also sticking with Bona, who did seem to have the fresher legs needed to handle Davis. He made a strong defensive play on Davis at the rim and swatted a Flagg attempt into the seats.
- The biggest takeaway from this game: Flagg and Edgecombe look like they’re going to be stars. The possessions where they were matched were a whole lot of fun.
- What a fun sequence for Maxey. He drew an offensive foul on Davis on one end — Dallas reviewed it but the call was upheld — and then buried a three after the break in action to extend the Sixers’ lead to 115-104. They held on from there.
- Fun night down at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Sixers will be back in action Tuesday as they host the Brooklyn Nets.
