BROOKLYN – Not long after the Dallas Mavericks defeated Philadelphia, 118-102, on Monday night, Sixers coach Nick Nurse was
discussing the job his team did against Mavs guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
While Irving popped in a game-high 23 points and added a game-high eight assists, Doncic scored just 19 points and also contributed eight rebounds and three assists. All of that came while the Sixers were basically double-teaming Doncic and taking the ball out of his hands.
“Obviously, those two guys can score a ton any night,” Nurse said. “I thought we did a pretty decent job on Dončić.
“I thought we let Irving get away from us a couple of times. We did have some schemes in for him too that we didn’t execute a couple of times, but we did in stretches in the first half.”
Irving converted 10-of-17 shots, while Doncic was 6-of-15 from the field. And it was Irving’s 10 points in the third quarter which started the Sixers on 
their downward trend.
“I thought we executed our defensive game plan about as well as we could in the first half,” Nurse said. “Again, Irving got away from us a couple of times when he probably shouldn’t of, because we had the scheme in place to stop him and we didn’t quite get it done.
“Those guys are tough to stop, that’s for sure.”
The Brooklyn Nets will find out how tough it is to stop the Doncic-Irving combo when the host the Mavs at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Barclays Center.
*This is the second game of a three-game road trip for the Mavs. The trip concludes with Thursday’s game against the New York Knicks before the Mavs return home to host Oklahoma City on Saturday.
*The Nets have dropped nine of their last 13 games and are in the midst of a five-game homestand. The homestand started with Monday’s 109-98 loss to the Golden State Warriors and will continue with games Thursday against Cleveland, Saturday against San Antonio, and Feb. 13 against Boston.
*Mavs guard Kyrie Irving will be visiting the Nets, who he played for from 2019-23, for the first time. Irving scored a game-high 23 points and dished out a game-high eight assists on Monday against Philadelphia. It was Irving’s first game since sitting out six games while nursing a sprained right thumb.
*Mavs center Dereck Lively II (nose surgery) and Dante Exum (right knee soreness) will not play against the Nets, while Luka Doncic (nasal contusion) is questionable and Kyrie Irving (sprained right thumb) is probable.
*Ex-Mavs forward Dorian Finney-Smith (ankle), Lonnie Walker IV (hamstring) and Day’Ron Sharpe (knee) will all miss Monday’s game, while Cameron Johnson (hip) is doubtful.
*Mikal Bridges (21.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg) leads the way for the Nets. Cam Thomas averages 21.6 ppg, Cameron Johnson is averaging 13.9 ppg, former Mavs guard Spencer Dinwiddie averages 12.7 ppg and 6.0 apg, and Nic Claxton is averaging 12.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg and 2.3 bpg.
DALLAS MAVERICKS (27-23) at BROOKLYN NETS (20-29)
When: 6:30 p.m., Tuesday
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn
TV: TNT
Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
X: @DwainPrice
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