Mavs-Sixers preview: Go-for-it teams meet for first time this season

The most interesting aspect of the Philadelphia 76ers visiting the Mavericks on Thursday night for an early start on national television – other than seeing whether the Mavs can get the wheels back on the bus after two consecutive losses – is the chance to see two teams that aren’t afraid to make bold moves.

The Sixers and Mavericks are going for it. They’d fit right in with Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy, even if they also might join him in hitting a bunch of balls in the water before they get it right.

Nobody can accuse the Sixers or the Mavericks of not rolling the dice.

Philadelphia has been a second-round playoff team four of the last five seasons, but has not been content with that. A little over a year ago, they sent Ben Simmons and a couple first-round draft picks, along with other players to Brooklyn to get James Harden.

The thinking was that Harden and Joel Embiid would provide the superstar one-two punch to take the Sixers to the next plateau.

In year two of that experiment, the results have been promising. The Sixers are solidly third in the Eastern Conference and they have been really good on the road with a 15-11 record going into Wednesday’s visit to Miami.

The Mavericks? The jury is still out on how the Kyrie Irving-Luka Dončić pairing is going to work. The clock is ticking as the Mavericks have lost four of the five games the two have played together.

However, the Sixers (and Phoenix on Sunday) represent potential statement games that could get the Mavericks back on their preferred path toward avoiding the play-in tournament next month. The top six teams in each conference make the playoffs. Teams seven through 10 have a mini-tournament to see who is placed seventh and eighth.

From here on, watching the scoreboard and the standings is going to be required on a daily basis. The Mavericks could rise or slide several spots in the jumbled West standings in the span of a day or two. It’s going to be a wild ride.

Here’s what else to look for when the Sixers visit at 6:30 p.m. Thursday:

• The Mavericks haven’t been good at all against the Eastern Conference. They own an 8-14 record after Tuesday’s 124-122 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The 76ers, meanwhile, are 17-6 against teams from the West.
• The Mavericks are learning on the fly and figure to be a strong offensive team that can outscore opponents on many nights. Defensively, they have had problems so far, allowing six of their last seven opponents to shoot 50 percent or better from the floor.
• This is the fourth of a six-game home stand on which the Mavericks are 1-2 so far. After Phoenix Sunday afternoon and Utah on Tuesday, the Mavericks are on the road for 10 of their next 13 games.
• The 76ers are led by Embiid and Harden, who combine to average 54 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists per game. Embiid, like Dončić, was an MVP candidate until Denver’s Nikola Jokic’s sprint since midseason has pretty much lapped the field. Embiid still has a shot at the scoring title. He’s averaging 33 points per game, a fraction below Dončić. Harden does lead the league in assists at 10.7 per game.
• This is the second of five consecutive road games for the Sixers. And back-to-backs don’t come much tougher than this one as they were in Miami on Wednesday night. The Sixers have a well-rounded team, ranking seventh in the NBA in total defensive rating and seventh in defensive rating.
• Sixers guard Shake Milton is averaging 8.8 points and 2.9 assists in 21 minutes per game this season. Milton was a standout at SMU before being drafted 54^th overall by the Mavericks in 2018 and quickly dealt to the Sixers for 56^th pick Ray Spalding and 60^th pick Kostas Antetokounmpo.
• This is the first of two meetings this season. The Mavs and Sixers will hook up again in Philadelphia on March 29.

PHILADELPHIA 76ers (40-21) at DALLAS MAVERICKS (33-30)

• When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
• Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas.
• TV: TNT.
• Radio:1 FM, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).

Twitter: @ESefko