A tough road game that was there for the taking once again slipped through the Mavericks’ fingers on Wednesday night.
Getting outscored 18-7 in the final eight minutes, the Mavericks dropped a 116-108 decision to the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. It was the Mavericks’ fifth loss in the past six games.
The game featured the two leading scorers in the NBA, the Sixers’ Joel Embiid and the Mavericks’ Luka Dončić. Neither was overwhelming, scoring 25 and 24 points, respectively, but a game that the Mavericks led much of the way was swayed at crunch time by the Sixers making plays that the Mavericks could not.
“I feel like we had a great chance to win this game and you notice that our poise down the stretch wasn’t at a high level that we needed to get this win and they took full advantage of it,” said Kyrie Irving. “These are just growing pains that we’re going through right now in the pressure cooker of the season, and you know it’s tough lessons that we got to learn and just grow from.”
Then, Irving hit on a positive note.
“I think the realistic view is that when I came here that this was going to be a growing process,” he said. “This was for the long term, and this is for something bigger than ourselves, and we can’t just be a championship team overnight especially me coming here.”
That sounds like good news for the future.
But it doesn’t help the here and now.
Points were tougher to come by in the fourth quarter against the Sixers, but Irving hit a tough midrange jumper with 8:09 to go that put the Mavericks up 101-98.
That’s when their execution dried up.
The Mavericks had trouble getting the ball in the basket down the stretch. The Sixers went on a 12-4 blitz to go ahead 110-105. When James Harden canned a couple of free throws with 1:05 to go, the Sixers’ lead was 115-108.
It was simply a matter of the Mavericks not being able to make timely shots. When Embiid blocked Luka Dončić on the Mavericks’ next possession, they fell to 37-40 and with only five games left in the regular season the prospects of any postseason action is beginning to fade.
Oklahoma City’s win over Detroit pushed the Thunder a game ahead of the Mavericks in the race for the 10th and final spot in the Western Conference that would earn a spot in the play-in tournament. The Thunder own the tiebreaker against the Mavericks as well.
Wins by the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah, which is in 12th place but now is tied in the loss column with the Mavericks, didn’t help their cause, either.
“We still have chances, so we shouldn’t give up yet,” Dončić said.
The Mavericks got 23 points from Irving in support of Luka’s 24. But the fourth quarter was a fiasco. The Mavericks made just 7-of-19 shots and had six turnovers. They did not get to the free-throw line.
Said Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers of the game: “We didn’t play well and we won a game. That’s the biggest thing. A year ago, we don’t win that game. Couldn’t find it. Didn’t have energy. Had no spacing. The ball wasn’t moving. Couldn’t defend. I have a whole list, and usually that sounds like a guy that lost the game.
“We won the game. That stands out to me. When you can win a game and really not play well.”
The first quarter supplied a clear example of something coach Jason Kidd mentioned in his pregame news conference.
He was asked about weighing the greatness of Dončić, who is the leading first-quarter scorer in the NBA, and getting Irving involved in the early going.
“That’s something we got to figure out on the run,” Kidd said. “Luka’s dominated the first quarter. We’re trying not to affect that. At the same time, what we’ve found out with Kai is that Kai is not always about scoring. He can set a screen and get a teammate a shot and we’re trying to lean into that a little more, use him as a screener to create easy looks for other guys.”
So in the first quarter against the Sixers, Irving came through with 11 points and Dončić dished out six assists. It was the second game in a row Irving had 11 first-quarter points.
The result was a 37-28 lead after a quarter for the Mavericks, thanks largely to a great play at the buzzer when Josh Green buried a three-pointer that technically was released after the buzzer. But, Green was fouled with 0.2 showing on the clock by Georges Niang. The clock therefore should have stopped at 0.2 and the shot was deemed to count and Green made the free throw for a four-point play.
The Sixers, however, were hot from long distance in the first half and it wasn’t until a Dončić runner in the paint that the Mavericks had their biggest lead of the half at 58-46.
The Sixers weren’t looking like a team with designs on the title at that point. But early in the third quarter, they had pulled into a tie at 68 and it was game-on.
MVP thoughts: A hot topic before Wednesday’s game was who rates as the NBA’s most valuable player.
Votes aren’t due until April 10, but with games running out in the regular season, it’s been an interesting debate about whether Denver’s Nikola Jokic or Philadelphia’s Embiid should be MVP. And is Luka Dončić a solid third after the two frontrunners?
“Both very talented. Can they tie for MVP?” Jason Kidd said before Wednesday’s action. “Let’s see if we can get that done. That’s two guys . . . who can dominate a game. That’s going to be tough for you guys (media) to vote on.”
Briefly: Frank Ntilikina (right knee) missed Wednesday’s game while Maxi Kleber played despite entering the game questionable with right hamstring soreness . . . The Mavericks have an unusual break between Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia and Saturday’s visit to Miami. The road trip ends Sunday at Atlanta before three home games to close out the regular season . . . While they started Wednesday still out of the play-in tournament, the Mavericks weren’t stressing out about their situation. Said Kidd: “We’re the same, relaxed as we were in Indiana. I think the play showed that. It’s a great group of guys in that locker room. They all believe they can win and they’re going to put their best foot forward.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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