The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night, 123-108. Tyrese Maxey once again roasted Dallas, scoring 34 points to go along with eight rebounds and 10 assists. Max Christie was the high point man for Dallas with 18.
The Mavericks attacked the paint early and often in the opening quarter, which paid off quickly against a flat-footed Philadelphia defense. Dallas attempted just one three-pointer in the quarter (and made it), but also shot 65% from the field and pulled ahead
early, leading 33-27 after one frame.
The second quarter was very bad for the Mavericks, comparatively. The math started to work against Dallas as their scorching field goal percentage from the first quarter ticked down while the Sixers kept attacking the paint and getting good looks. The Maverick defense looked disconnected at times and Philadelphia took advantage. The 41 point outburst gave the Sixers a 68-57 lead heading into halftime.
Dallas attempted to chip away at the Philadelphia lead in the third, but to no avail. The teams traded baskets throughout, with Maxey and Embiid connecting often enough to be annoying to watch. The Maverick spacing seemed to be an issue, with the Sixers finding David, Flagg, and others for the occasional double team, only for Dallas to be unable to make the defense pay. Dallas trailed 92-83 after 36 minutes of basketball.
The bench Mavericks quickly cut the Sixer lead to four to open the fourth. Philadelphia rallied right back and extended the lead back out to double digits halfway through the period. The Mavericks made one last run and cut it to seven with under three minutes to play, but the Sixers shut the door on any comeback attempt. The Sixers leave Dallas with a 123-108 win.
Anthony Davis doesn’t look healthy
Why play a guy who looks this immobile? The theory of what makes Davis special is that he can guard anyone at any point on the floor. That theory’s been nonsense for a while now, several seasons really, but he is a functional center when his shots come as part of the offense (and closer to the basket). Davis, as an isolation player in an offense with no spacing, is ugly and he wasn’t much of an impediment to Embiid on defense.
I don’t understand having him play when he’s still awkward with the adductor or abductor or whatever is wrong with him. A serious injury can occur at any time if you’re already dealing with something smaller, so this just doesn’t make sense to me. Perhaps he’s more mobile on Saturday.
Cooper Flagg in the open court is great fun
Whenever the star rookie gets the ball off a longer rebound and pushes the ball up the court, it’s about as exciting an offensive play as we get from the Dallas Mavericks these days. This isn’t news or something I am just now discovering, but I get really excited seeing him on the break with or without the ball. He’s a dynamic athlete with incredible vision and power flying up the floor. It’s just great to watch and I wont get bored with it.
Hard to win when you can’t shoot well
The deepball from the Mavericks is as predictive of a measurement as any when looking at box scores after wins or losses. The crisp 6 of 28 Dallas shot against the Sixers tells the tale Thursday night. You have to hit 30% or more to give yourself a chance of winning, really closer to 40% for a team as offensively bizarre as Dallas. Alas, we knew all that, but it stands out like a sore thumb.
