RECAP: Philadelphia 76ers 112, Dallas Mavericks 110

The Philadelphia 76ers competed well and came out with a win against the Dallas Mavericks. In the center matchup, Joel Embiid bested his friend, Nerlens Noel, on the way to a dramatic victory.

The tough early schedule for the Philadelphia 76ers made this game as close to a must win as it gets in the first third of the season. Thankfully, Sixers finally won in Dallas after a lengthy drought dating back to the George W. Bush presidency. The young team has had trouble closing out games so far, but held on by the skin of their teeth. The Mavs came with in two free throws from tying the game in the last seconds.

The storyliine coming in was Joel Embiid matching up with Nerlens Noel. But the story coming out of it should be the impressive play of Ben Simmons. Despite foul trouble in the second quarter, the rookie point guard and imposed his will. He put in his most aggressive, most complete game to date. His absence was felt almost as immensely as Joel’s as the departure in the second quarter led to Dallas getting back into the game.

Speaking of Joel, he had himself a nice game as well finishing with 23 points. He proved that the only person that could stop him was himself by finishing with seven turnovers. Bench performances by T.J. McConnell and Timothe Luwawu-Caberrot were impressive, T.J. especially.  The Sixers looked like the better team for long stretches of this game, but the Mavericks hung into the end. A loss for the Sixers here would have been devastating. In the end, a win is a win.

Strong Sixers Start

Starting Dario looks like a good idea. Brett was able to hide him on defense against the Mavs. He stretched Dirk out to the 3-point line on offense. Joel got advantage over Nerlens early, scoring seven in the first six minutes, including an impressive corner three.

Dallas hit from long range to start the game. Even though the Mavs started hot, the Sixers defense did well the limit the Mavericks to twenty-three points and forced five turnovers.

Ben Simmons showing very well on defense. He caused a five second violation, a steal, and numerous deflections. He even hit a jump shot and jammed with authority to finish with eight points in the first.

Inconsistent 2^nd Quarter

Dallas really emphasized a quick double team on Embiid and it definitely limited his effectiveness after a strong start. Dallas stayed hot from three including a highly favorable bounce off of the top of the back board. Fortunately, the Sixers were able to answer with two bombs from Robert Covington and Jerryd Bayless.

During the second quarter, we discovered Ben Simmons cannot get into foul trouble. After picking up his third foul, Ben sat for the rest of the second quarter. His absence was felt on both sides of the floor. The defense was not as consistent for the Sixers in the second quarter. The Mavericks scored over thirty points and made up the deficit from the first quarter. On offense, the efficiency just could not hold up to its standard from the first quarter.

His Gritness Reigns

Ben showed more authority driving into the lane with an emphatic slam over Dirk. The 3-point barrage continued through the third quarter with both teams just knocking down shots even hotly contested ones, and ones from both 7-footers.

The two-man game between Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid got going in the third with some pick and roll sets and an impressive alley-oop by The Process.

T.J. McConnell gave another impressive performance. He was all over the court once again. Including pulling off a patented inbound pass steal, T.J. added a season high in points. His presence in the third quarter allowed the defense to ratchet up and improve over a rough second quarter.

That defense combined with three threes by the Sixers allows them to close out quarter on a fifteen to two run and lead by eleven.

A Thrilling Final Frame

Two quick threes cut the Sixers hard-earned lead in half to start the fourth. The Sixers offense struggled to get a rhythm and did not score until the 9:19 mark when Ben slammed one home. Simmons continued to keep the Sixers offense humming after that.

It was a tightly contested fourth quarter. Brett Brown shortened the bench and never kept both Ben or Joel off the floor at any given time and nixed minutes for Nik Stauskas and Justin Anderson. It was a good call from the coach as the Sixers were able to open a nine-point lead with four minutes to go thanks to a Joel Embiid three.

I am not sure I really want Joel to take as many three-point shots he did tonight, even though he made them during clutch moments. He got rescued on a distance shot by Ben Simmons who was able to finish with an incredible put back dunk. Once again, the Sixers found themselves  with the lead in the last-minute.

How the young team responds in these situations has come to define the season so far. They are now two and one in these situations after holding on against Detroit and Dallas. Give credit to Dallas for making as close as they did down the stretch due to two huge threes. It was thrilling finish as it came down to a missed three throw and a failed tip back for the Mavericks. The Sixers will take this dramatic win and move on to Houston where they have some unfinished business from last week.

Next: Joel Embiid Wants To Be Like Kobe Bryant

Previous Game Recaps

• L, Washington 120 – Philadelphia 115
• L, Boston 102 – Philadelphia 92
• L, Toronto 128 – Philadelphia 94
• W, Philadelphia 97 – Detroit 86
• L, Houston 105 – Philadelphia 104