Mavericks-76ers Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Nov 26 2012 6:20PM

Jrue Holiday is living up to the four-year, $41 million contract extension Philadelphia rewarded him with at the start of the season. He has assumed a leadership role, and in the 76ers' last game, he carried the team to victory with perhaps the best performance of his career.

His worst offensive showing, however, came in his most recent game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Holiday looks to lead the 76ers to a rare win over the Mavericks on Tuesday night, while Dallas tries to bounce back from its most lopsided defeat of the season.

After an overtime loss to Oklahoma City the previous night, Holiday made sure the disappointment wouldn't carry over to Sunday's game against Phoenix. He had a career-high 33 points along with 13 assists in leading the 76ers (8-6) to a 104-101 victory.

"We take a lot of pride in how we play and we didn't want to lose three straight," forward Thaddeus Young said. "I think Jrue set the tone from the beginning with his aggressive play. He put us on his shoulders."

Holiday, who is averaging team highs of 18.6 points and 9.2 assists, picked up his game down the stretch, scoring nine points in the final 6:40 to help Philadelphia hang on.

"I like having the feel of the game with the pressure on to take the ball in my hands," he said. "At crunch-time, I think I made the right plays."

Holiday already has five double-doubles after getting just one last season, and he's doing a much better job taking care of the ball after some carelessness early. He is averaging 2.6 turnovers in the last seven games after averaging 6.0 in the first seven.

"He's been playing at an extremely high level," Young said.

That was not the case in an 82-75 home loss to the Mavericks on Feb. 17. Holiday missed all nine of his field-goal attempts and finished with three points, and the Sixers were outscored by 20 when he was on the court.

The defeat was the 10th in 12 games for Philadelphia against Dallas, but it could have better luck this time.

The Mavericks (7-7) are opening a stretch with eight of 10 on the road, and they've lost four of five away from Dallas. They're allowing an average of 105.3 points in the defeats, and their lone road win in that span came at lowly Cleveland.

The Sixers, meanwhile, have won four of five in Philadelphia, averaging 106.3 points in the last three.

Dallas is coming off Saturday's 115-89 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, in which it trailed by as many as 37 and was outrebounded 61-39.

"It's a bad one," guard O.J. Mayo told the Mavericks' official website. "We wish we could get it back, but we've gotta throw it away and get ready for our road trip."

Mayo was held to 13 points - 8.5 below his team-leading average - and missed all five of his 3-point attempts despite coming in shooting 56.8 percent from beyond the arc and having a league-best 42 made 3s.

Regaining his shooting touch could be difficult against a Sixers team that is limiting opponents to 28.9 percent shooting from 3-point range in its last five at home.

Elton Brand will be making his first return to Philadelphia after the Sixers used the amnesty clause to waive him in July. The Mavericks won the bidding to obtain Brand off waivers, and the two-time All-Star is averaging a career-low 5.5 points - half of what he averaged last season.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Turner, Young lead 76ers past Mavericks 100-98

By DAN GELSTON
Posted Nov 27 2012 11:04PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) The 76ers won again with Elton Brand having another strong game and earning a hefty paycheck from the organization.

Brand just couldn't celebrate because his effort was wasted with Dallas.

Evan Turner scored 22 points and Thaddeus Young had 20 to lead Philadelphia to a 100-98 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

Brand scored a season-high 17 points for the Mavericks in his first game against the Sixers since they used their one-time amnesty provision over the summer in the new labor deal to let him go. The move meant the $18.1 million Brand was owed in the final season of his $80 million, five-year contract did not count against the salary cap for Philadelphia, though it still owed him about $16 million.

The two-time All-Star forward didn't stay unemployed for long, and the Mavericks won the bidding at $2.1 million to land him off waivers.

With Andrew Bynum out with a bone bruise, Brand was the most expensive player the Sixers were paying to play in this game. He saw some familiar play in the fourth quarter when the Sixers started running, forced some turnovers, and worked their way inside for easy buckets.

"I was a part of it last year. We used to do it time and time again," Brand said. "It was just hustle plays and being in the right spot at the right time."

Jrue Holiday had 18 points and seven assists for the Sixers, who snapped a six-game losing streak to Dallas. Philadelphia shot 6 of 14 on 3-pointers and won its second straight game.

Chris Kaman scored 20 points and Shawn Marion also had 17 for the Mavericks. Vince Carter added 15 and was clutch in the fourth quarter in trying to bring Dallas back from a 10-point hole.

The 76ers finally created some space in a back-and-forth game when they snapped a tie with a 10-0 run midway through the fourth.

The highlight came when Holiday stole the ball, took off running and dished to a driving Young down the lane for a three-point play and a 90-81 lead.

Carter, long a nuisance against Philadelphia, ended the Sixers' streak with a 3-pointer for a Dallas team trying to stay afloat with Dirk Nowitzki (knee) out about another month, at least.

The Mavericks whittled it to five until Young hit a mid-range jumper for a seven-point lead and the Sixers forced a turnover on the next possession with 90 seconds left. But they failed to score and Carter delivered again, sinking his third 3 to make it a four-point game. Carter made a left-handed layup to bring the Mavericks to 100-98 with 37 seconds left.

O.J. Mayo was fouled on a wild drive with 2.7 seconds to go but missed the first free throw attempt. Mayo also missed the second, but the Mavs recovered. Jae Crowder's last-gasp jumper was off the mark, leaving Dallas with a 2-5 record on the road.

The Mavericks had turnovers on five straight possessions during one miserable stretch in the fourth. They finished with eight overall in the quarter.

"They were untimely and completely out of character to how we played to that point," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We have to eliminate those turnovers right now. In games like this, it's how you manage mistakes."

Brand chipped in eight rebounds for the Mavericks and played with an edge against his former team.

Brand was a two-time All-Star when he spurned better offers and signed the free-agent contract with Philadelphia. While he was the locker-room leader and heart of the Sixers, his production never merited the deal he signed as one of the hottest free agents available.

"We gave the fans some excitement," Brand said. "It definitely wasn't a full success."

He played only 29 games in an injury-filled first season with Philadelphia and never meshed with former coach Eddie Jordan in his second. Under Doug Collins, Brand found his niche and led the Sixers in scoring with 15 points a game in 2010-11.

"I wish I could have coached Elton one year in his prime. Just one," Collins said. "We miss him. We miss that soul."

Brand, averaging only 5.5 points this season, is far removed from his days as a regular double-double threat and was coming off a scoreless effort in a loss to the Lakers. He looked ready to stick it to his former team and had 12 points and five rebounds in the first half.

Brand powered his way past Lavoy Allen for a basket and a free throw for the final points of the first half and a 56-53 Dallas lead.

Turner, Holiday and even Kwame Brown started rolling in the second half to hold off the slumping Mavericks. With Holiday blossoming into one of the top point guards in the East, the Sixers can't be counted out, even without Bynum.

"Jrue has been big for us. He's been huge," Young said. "He's shown growth each and every year."

NOTES: Brand's family still lives in the Philadelphia area. His daughter, Mahala, was born on Nov. 7. ... The Sixers have played 10 of 15 games at home. ... The Sixers are 5-1 against Western Conference teams this season. ... The 76ers have scored 100-plus points in each of the last three games after doing it twice in the first 12 games of the season. ... The Sixers made 24 free throws on a season-high 32 attempts.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Sixers 100, Mavericks 98

Andy Jasner, for NBA.com
Posted Tue Nov 27, 2012 10:50 PM - Updated Wed Nov 28, 2012 8:28 AM

THE FACTS: Evan Turner scored 22 points, Thaddeus Young contributed 20 points and the Philadelphia 76ers held on at the end for a dramatic 100-98 victory over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Jrue Holiday scored 18 points and rookie Maalik Wayns had a career-high 10 for the Sixers, who improved to 9-6.

Chris Kaman paced the Mavericks (7-8) with 20 points while Elton Brand and Shawn Marion had 17 apiece. Vince Carter added 15 points, Darren Collison had 12 and O.J. Mayo 11 for Dallas, which lost its second game in a row.

QUOTABLE: "It was the second squad. Coach challenged the second squad to step up and make plays and they did. They got us the lead."

-- Sixers' Evan Turner on the bench

THE STAT: After committing seven turnovers through three quarters, the Mavericks had eight in the fourth for a total of 15.

TURNING POINT: The Mavericks got within 100-98 on Carter's layup with 17.4 seconds remaining. Mayo then had a chance to tie the game but missed the first free throw. He misfired on the second one on purpose and Jae Crowder even had a chance to win the game with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. That shot hit the backboard and rim before bouncing away.

HOT: Turner was 8-for-12 and Holiday 7-for-13. For Dallas, Kaman knocked down nine of his 13 shots.

NOT: Crowder was 1-for-5 and Dominique Jones was 0-for-5.

QUOTABLE II: "He's a man's man and that's the ultimate compliment I can give to him. It's extremely hard coming back to a place you have played and play well because it's so emotional and all that. The way he played big and hit timely shots and gave us a physical presence was very impressive."

-- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle on Elton Brand, who was playing his first game against his former team.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Holiday had 18 points, seven assists, three steals and one block.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Even without the injured Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks remain a big draw as evidenced by the crowd of 15,107 at the Wells Fargo Center. The fans were loud from the opening tip and stayed that way through the frenetic finish.

QUOTABLE III: "They turned up their intensity. I was part of it last year when we used to do it time and again. It seemed like the game was in our favor for a while after that slow first quarter start. It was just hustle plays, being in the right spot at the right time."

-- Mavs' Elton Brand

GOOD MOVE: Sixers coach Doug Collins gave Wayns extended minutes -- a season-high 13:17 -- and the rookie delivered with some much-needed energy off the bench.

BAD MOVE: Kaman probably could have seen the ball more down the stretch. He only missed four shots all night and seemed to have a good rhythm from the beginning of the game.

ROOKIE WATCH: Crowder had two points and four rebounds in 24:02 while center Bernard James didn't play. For the Sixers, Wayns was stellar with 10 points while forward Arnett Moultrie had a DNP-CD.

NOTABLE: The Sixers had a season-high tying 32 free throws. They were averaging 18.6 per game entering this game. ... Turner had his second 20-point game over the past three. He has also scored in double figures in each of the past seven games. ... Brand had a season-high 17 points after not scoring more than 11 in any other game. ... The Sixers committed 17 turnovers, leading to 28 Dallas points. "I don't know if I've ever coached our team where we've ever had 28 points off turnovers where we've won the game, so that was a plus to be able to do that," Collins said. ... Jason Richardson and Kwame Brown led the Sixers in rebounding with eight each.

NEXT: For the Mavericks, Wednesday @ Chicago, Saturday vs. Detroit, Dec. 5 @ L.A. Clippers. For the Sixers, Friday @ Charlotte, Saturday @ Chicago, Dec. 4 vs. Minnesota.