MAVERICKS (43-26) at PHILADELPHIA 76ers (42-26)
Time: 6 p.m., Friday.
Place: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia.
TV: Bally Sports Southwest.
Radio: The Eagle 97.1 FM; Univision Zona MX 99.1 FM (Spanish)
About the Mavericks: They have been nothing short of sensational so far on this trip with last-gasp wins at Boston and Brooklyn after rolling the Houston Rockets in the opener of this five-game journey . . . Against the Celtics and Nets, Spencer Dinwiddie nailed clutch 3-pointers after receiving a pass from Luka Dončić in each instance. “Same thing as Boston,” Luka said when asked about the winning play in Brooklyn, when the ball splashed through the net as the final horn was sounding. In Boston, the Celtics actually had a couple seconds to work with, but Dinwiddie was there to distract Jayson Tatum, who missed a 3-pointer that could have forced overtime. At Brooklyn, it was a true buzzer, which put Dinwiddie on a short list of Mavericks who have hit a shot to win it as time expired. Also on the list (per Elias Sports Bureau, regular season and playoffs): Harrison Barnes, Vince Carter, Luka, Howard Eisley, Monta Ellis, Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki, Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry, Antoine Walker and Deron Williams . . . Dorian Finney-Smith, who has averaged 15.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and shot 47.1 percent from 3-point range (56.8 percent overall). This came after he signed his contract extension . . . Dinwiddie has averaged 17.9 points in his 12 games since joining the team. That’s just 1.3 points less than Kristaps Porzingis averaged in his 34 games this season with the Mavericks . . . This trip concludes with the second leg of a back-to-back Saturday at Charlotte. They have one more back-to-back later this month . . . The Mavericks beat the Sixers 107-98 on Feb. 4 in Dallas.
About the Sixers: They have been vulnerable on their home floor of late, going just 5-5 since Feb. 1 and losing their last two to Brooklyn and Denver . . . That said, they are coming off a nice 118-114 victory at Cleveland on Wednesday in which they finished with a big kick, outscoring the Cavaliers 33-24 in the fourth quarter while shooting 64 percent and hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers . . . Center Joel Embiid is one of the few players in the NBA who can claim they are having as good a season as Luka Dončić. Embiid had 35 points and 17 rebounds against Cleveland and is averaging an NBA-leading 29.9 points to go with 11.4 rebounds per game . . . In his last 16 games, he’s been even tougher, averaging 32.3 points and 12.6 rebounds while shooting 37.7 percent from 3-point range. No wonder he’s one of the MVP favorites . . . The Sixers made a huge trade before the deadline to acquire James Harden from Brooklyn, shipping disgruntled Ben Simmons to the Nets, along with Andre Drummond and Seth Curry. Since arriving, Harden has averaged 22.8 points and 10.6 assists in nine games . . . The development of second-year guard Tyrese Maxey has been a key reason why the Sixers were OK with trading the multi-talented Simmons. Maxey has had a strong sophomore campaign, averaging 17.4 points and 4.3 assists while shooting better than 41 percent from 3-point land . . . This is the opener of an important three-game home stand for the Sixers, who also have Toronto and Miami coming in before playing seven of their last 11 games on the road.
Twitter: @ESefko
Share and comment