Joel Embiid, 76ers Get Back at Luka Doncic, Mavericks

Joel Embiid returned to the floor on Wednesday to help the 76ers get revenge on Luka Doncic and the Mavericks after their first meeting.

Back in early March, when the Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Dallas Mavericks, one of the NBA’s newest star duos, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, fired on all cylinders and combined for over 80 points. In a high-scoring matchup, the Sixers came up short of the Mavericks.

A few weeks later, the Sixers had the opportunity to host Doncic and the Mavericks, and they had a healthy squad for the first time in over a week. Joel Embiid and James Harden entered Wednesday’s matchup listed as questionable. Eventually, they were both upgraded to available.

Dealing with calf tightness, Embiid was in good shape through his first nine minutes on the court. By draining three of his five shots from the field and going 4-5 from the charity stripe, Embiid led the Sixers with ten points. Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks’ offensive attack gave Dallas a 37-28 lead through the first quarter of action.

Philadelphia slightly outscored the Mavs in the second quarter. After a rather rusty start from Harden, the star guard picked up his play and produced seven points in seven minutes before the half. Tyrese Maxey matched Harden’s production with seven points of his own to help the Sixers get the game within five points at halftime.

During Monday night’s shorthanded loss against the Denver Nuggets, the Sixers lost control of the matchup in the third quarter. 

They looked to prevent the same mistakes this time around. Maxey gave the Sixers an optimal scoring punch with ten points. As the Sixers knocked down 52 percent of their shots from the field and hit on 67 percent of their threes, they won the highly efficient third-quarter shooting battle against the Mavericks, changing the lead over twice.

Although the Sixers still trailed going into the fourth quarter, it was clear a momentum shift could be on its way. Sure enough, that was the case. 

The Sixers held Dallas to just 37 percent shooting from the field in the fourth quarter. As the Mavs wanted to keep up with their efficient scoring night from deep, they failed to maintain their success from three in the fourth quarter and hit on just three of their 12 shots from beyond the arc.

With a little bit of help from everybody on both ends of the floor, the Sixers outscored the Mavericks by ten points in the final 12 minutes of action. The game concluded with a score of 116-108 in favor of the 76ers, who collected their 50th win of the night.

Embiid led the way for the Sixers, scoring 25 points in 33 minutes. Tyrese Maxey was right behind him with 22 points, while James Harden secured a double-double by producing 15 points and 12 assists. 

Off the bench, De’Anthony Melton and Georges Niang were both quite efficient as they each drained five of their nine shots, combining for 31 points.

On the other side, the Mavericks’ star backcourt couldn’t mirror their offensive success from the first meeting with the Sixers. Taking a combined 37 shots, Doncic and Irving made 17 of their attempts. They totaled 47 points as they collected their 40th loss of the season, courtesy of the 76ers. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.