Dallas Mavericks remind Philadelphia 76ers what they can do

The Dallas Mavericks have been in a bad way of late and have struggled winning games against beatable opponents. The Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers presented another such game, but the Mavs didn’t mess this one up.

It would be a stretch to say the Dallas Mavericks have had an easy schedule of late, but it would also be a lie to say a majority of their games weren’t against beatable opponents. Since the Mavs beat the San Antonio Spurs the day after Christmas, they have been struggling to find a rhythm on the court.

In fact, in the past 17 games, going all the way back to the loss to the Sacramento Kings on December 8th, the Mavs actually have a losing record of 8-9. Prior to this stretch, they were one of the hottest teams in the NBA with a 16-6 record and a five-game win streak headed to Sacramento.

A lot of this struggle can be put on the injury bug, of course. Kristaps Porzingis just missed his seventh consecutive game with a knee injury. The Mavs have gone 3-4 in that stretch so far and Porzingis still does not have a set return date. Dallas was also missing Tim Hardaway Jr. for a three-game stretch in which the Mavs suffered their ugliest loss recently to the Charlotte Hornets.

Despite frustrations and disappointment, the Mavericks are still far away from falling out of the playoff race and are well within reach of not just a solid spot in the playoffs, but all the way up to a potential two-seed. The West has grouped itself in a tight bunch once again and the Mavs are currently three games out of second, but 2.5 games out of fifth.

It has been a disappointing start to 2020, but Dallas has every chance to find themselves right back in the mix of things once Porzingis returns and the team is healthy again. There may not be better proof to that line of thought than the Mavs impressive 109-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers last night.

The 76ers are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and are considered one of the best defensive teams in the league. That definitely showed in a first half where the Mavericks scored only 41 points. Of course, this was probably just a tribute to Dirk Nowitzki, who was sitting court-side with Mark Cuban.

Although the Mavs went on to turn the ball over a whopping 16 times in the game, the second half was significantly better both offensively and defensively. In the final 24 minutes, Dallas outscored Philly 78-41.

This was kind of a surprise game in which Luka Doncic was not dominant on the offensive end, but the supporting cast really fought hard and outplayed a very talented Sixers team. This wouldn’t have been surprising normally, but over the last stretch of games, the supporting cast has been very pedestrian for the most part.

Dwight Powell and Luka Doncic led all Mavs with 19 points each. They also combined for 20 rebounds (12 for Powell, 8 for Luka) and Luka dropped 12 dimes as well. All five starters finished in double-digits, with Dorian Finney-Smith scoring 16, Hardaway with 12 and Maxi Kleber with 10. The only bench player to hit double-digits was Boban Marjanovic with 12.

For the Sixers, Tobias Harris led all scorers with 20, while Al Horford and Josh Richardson each scored 16 and Ben Simmons finished with 11 points and 11 assists. Simmons was held scoreless for the entire second half.

Dallas really needed a win in this one and they delivered against an East playoff team. The Mavs can hopefully get things back on track in the coming 11 days where they will play four of five games against non-playoff teams. If they can get Porzingis back in his groove during this stretch, the Mavs will quickly become one of the most dangerous teams in the league once again.