Mavs Can't Pull Off Another Comeback, Fall at 76ers

Dallas Mavericks hoped to remain unbeaten on their road trip, but Joel Embiid and James Harden had other plans

The streaking Dallas Mavericks rode into Friday night's matchup at the star-studded Philadelphia 76ers having won 14 of their last 17 games, including back-to-back thrillers at the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets.

But momentum comes to an end at some point, as the Mavs were unable to pull off another huge fourth quarter comeback in a 111-101 loss at Wells Fargo Center. Dallas falls to 3-1 on their current five-game road trip and 43-27 overall.

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Luka Doncic passes over James Harden.

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Spencer Dinwiddie challenges Tyrese Maxey.

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Jalen Brunson drives on Joel Embiid.

Luka Doncic, who has forged his way into the MVP conversation, struggled, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while shooting just 5-20 from the floor, including 2-10 from deep. Doncic also turned the ball six times as Philadelphia did a great job staying active in the passing lanes throughout the game. The Sixers' zone defense also gave the Mavs problems.

“When [opposing teams] play zone, you've got to be able to make shots, and we just didn’t do that tonight,” coach Jason Kidd. “And when [Doncic] makes the pass, we hold it. If you massage the ball, it gives the defense, the zone, the opportunity to get back in their position. When we did what we’re supposed to, good things happened. 

"But we had some careless turnovers – stepping out of bounds, not just once but three times or four times. The court’s no bigger or no smaller here. We can’t do that against elite teams. We can’t have those careless turnovers. But sometimes the ball goes in for you and sometimes it doesn’t.”

That last quote was Kidd referring to Dorian Finney-Smith, who has stepped out of bounds in the corner multiple times over the last two games. When Finney-Smith catches the ball and shoots it, he never has that issue. But when decides to pass up the shot and drive to the basket, he has had trouble in the past with extending his heel back too far, creating a turnover.

Despite scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds, Finney-Smith didn't have his best outing after playing stellar basketball for the better part of a month. He finished with a team-worst -16 in the boxscore plus-minus. Knowing Finney-Smith, though, it's likely that bounces back strong in a big way for Dallas.

Joel Embiid, considered a top MVP candidate with Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, was brilliant once again with 32 points, eight rebounds, four assists and five steals. Embiid also shot an efficient 11-20 and 8-9 from the free-throw line. James Harden, the other half of the Sixers' star duo, pitched in with 24 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists.

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Dwight Powell attacks James Harden.

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Luka Doncic defends James Harden.

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Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson both scored in double figures.

With Doncic having a rare off night, Jalen Brunson gave it his all in his personal homecoming. The former star with the Villanova Wildcats showed shades of his old March Madness self by leading the Mavs with 24 points and dishing out four assists. Every other starter for Dallas scored in double digits.

This was a case of a really good team losing to another really good team playing at home.

Next up, the Mavs will finish off their five-game road trip looking to bounce back Saturday night against the Charlotte Hornets before returning home for games against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets.

“This has been a pretty good road trip,” said Kidd, who stated beforehand that the goal was to come back home from the 5-game trip above .500. “This is a good way to end it, hopefully. But we can’t play like we did tonight or we’ll find ourselves with another loss.”