Dallas Mavericks crushed Philadelphia 76ers 99-90 in the basketball court of American Airlines Centre, Dallas by in the presence of almost 20,000 fans.
Six players scored in double figures for the Mavericks, who won their third straight game and defeated the 76ers for the sixth straight time in Dallas. Philadelphia has won just two games this year.
Prominent players
Dallas’s point guard José Barea scored 19 points and 2 assists. Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion scored 16 each for the Mavericks.
Thaddeus Young led Philly with 17 off the bench. Andres Nocioni and Spencer Hawes added 14 points each.
Game story
Dallas headed the court from the start of the game and took an initial lead of 9 points. Nowitzki scored 6 points for Dallas in the first quarter, while Jason Kidd recorded his 11,000th career assist with 9:51 left in the first quarter on Chandler’s alley-oop
dunk.
Philadelphia played their best in the second session and added 26 points to the previous score but even then, they fell short of 7 points by the end of second quarter and Dallas held a 55-48 halftime advantage.
Philadelphia extended their struggle into the third round but was not sufficient to tackle the teamwork of Dallas. After trailing by as many as 10 in the first half, the Philadelphia tied it at 71 on Jrue Holiday’s layup with 2:25 left in the third quarter.
However, Barea converted layups on consecutive possessions and Haywood hit a free throw with less than a second left in the third quarter to give the Mavericks a 78-75 edge.
Barea worked inside for two more short-range baskets during a 7-2 run to open the final quarter, extending Dallas’ advantage to 85-77. The Mavs went on to lead by as many as 14 down the stretch, coasting to their sixth straight home win over the Sixers.
Turning point of the game
The Mavericks broke it open with a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter. After Tony Battie hit a short jumper to trim Philadelphia's deficit to 78-77, the 76ers came away empty on their next six possessions. Barea made back-to-back driving layups and then
dished to Brian Cardinal for a 3-pointer to cap the Dallas spurt.
Quotes from the game
"Our balance has been very good the last two games. It's something we talked about heading into the season that was part of defining who we are as an exceptional team."
- Mavericks head coach, Rick Carlisle.
"Their size killed us. At the end of the day, it was their size." - Philadelphia’s head coach, Doug Collins.
Up next
Dallas Mavericks will face New Orleans Hornets on Monday 15 November at the same venue.
Philadelphia 76ers will play its next match against San Antonio Spurs on Saturday 13 November at AT&T Centre, San Antonio.
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