PLAYER GRADES: Philadelphia 76ers 106, Dallas Mavericks 100
The Philadelphia 76ers did not have to worry about how to fit Jimmy Butler into their offense on Saturday night. He and Wilson Chandler both missed their second consecutive game with upper respiratory infections as rookie sensation Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks came to town.
For the first time since Christmas Day, the Philadelphia 76ers were playing in the Eastern time zone as they hosted the Dallas Mavericks.
However, the contest went pretty much like their last two games out West. The 76ers built a big lead in the second half (this time 19 points) and then, receiving almost nothing from a depleted bench, Dallas got as close as four points in the final minute.
But, as usual, the Sixers made the plays at the end, Joel Embiid‘s steal at 25.6 seconds a highlight, and posted a 106-100 victory over the Mavericks.
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The 76ers are now 26-14 on the season 17-3 at home, the second-best home record in the league.. Dallas drops to 18-21 and an NBA-worst 3-18 on the road,
It was Rookie of the Year favorite Luka Doncic‘s first appearance in Philly. He finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists but shot an awful 4-for-16 from the field. (1 of 8 from the three-point line).
With 4:19 left the Sixers were shooting a horrific 20 percent for the game from beyond the three-point arc but they held an eight-point lead because Dallas was not exactly lighting it up on offense itself.
The Sixers were able to gain some separation in the third quarter as their main core received some help from rookies Jonah Bolden and Shake Milton, who contributed on both the offensive and defensive ends. Entering the fourth, the 76er held an 87-70 advantage.
In the second period, with the 76ers bench mostly in, not surprisingly the Mavericks made a run and held a four-point lead with five minutes to go. J.J. Redick and Ben Simmons turned things around as the Sixers finished the period on a 12-2 run to take 59-51 lead at halftime.
The first quarter featured a quick Sixers start, including a Ben Simmons jumper (yes, JUMPER) for the first basket. The period had an early appearance by Shake Milton, who knocked down a three-pointer, as the 76ers ended the first with a 31-26 lead.
JOEL EMBIID. B. <strong>35 mins | 25 pts | 12 reb | 5 ast | 1 stl | 1 blk | 2 TO | 7-17 FG | 1-3 3PT| 10-11 FT | 4 PF | +7|</strong><p>Embiid was not his ‘Bully Ball’ dominant self like he had been on the West Coast trip but he was still a major factor. Had a good game on defense and helped limit Dallas offensively until the final minutes. Played a lot more on the perimeter in the fourth quarter than usual, and his teammates did get good shots off of it, although many of them were misses.</p>. C.
BEN SIMMONS. A. <strong>36 mins | 20 pts | 14 reb | 11 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 4 TO | 9-17 FG | 0-0 3PT| 2-6 FT | 2 PF | +12|</strong><p>Last year’s Rookie of the Year facing the favorite for this season’s ROY seemed to get Simmons’ competitive juices going. He posted his sixth triple-double of the season and his fourth in the last 10 games. He is not exactly turning into J.J. Redick but Simmons in the past week is suddenly launching occasional jump shots, making two of them vs. Dallas. Was 0-4 on free throws until making two in crunch time.</p>. PG. Philadelphia 76ers
B. <strong>33 mins | 20 pts | 2 reb | 2 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 8-14 FG | 2-6 3PT| 2-3 FT | 0 PF | +13|</strong><p>Without Butler, the Sixers needed points from Redick, and he delivered. Redick had a team-high +13 and, while he did not have his best shooting from the 3-point line, he was sinking baskets from all over the court and allowing Simmons and Embiid to get room inside.</p>. SG. Philadelphia 76ers. J.J. REDICK
B+. <strong>29 mins | 11 pts | 9 reb | 3 ast | 0 stl | 2 blk | 1 TO | 4-8 FG | 0-2 3PT| 3-6 FT | 4 PF | +11|</strong><p>Bolden might have played his last game in the G League after this performance. For the second game in a row, coach Brett Brown started Bolden at power forward with Wilson Chandler ill, instead of <a rel=. F. Philadelphia 76ers. JONAH BOLDEN
B-. <b>11 mins | 6 pts | 2 reb | 0 ast | 0 stl | 2 blk | 0 TO | 2-4 FG | 1-2 3PT| 1-1 FT | 0 PF | -2|</b><p>The ‘Free Shake’ movement was in its glory as the rookie two-way player contributed on both ends. With the paper-thin Sixers bench even more threadbare than usual with Bolden and <a rel=. G-F. Philadelphia 76ers. SHAKE MILTON
Before the game, coach Brett Brown addressed the so-called problem with Jimmy Butler at a film session in Portland about his role in the offense. Basically, he said it was no big deal.
It was the first day NBA teams were allowed to sign players to 10-day contracts but the Sixers did not make any moves.
dark. Next. 2018 progress reports for Sixers' G-Leaguers
Up next for the Sixers is a home-and-home series with the John Wall-less Washington Wizards. First up is a Tuesday night game in Philly, where fans can see potential future 76er trade target Bradley Beal.