76ers-Mavericks Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Dec 17 2012 9:16PM

While the Dallas Mavericks have been without star Dirk Nowitzki all season, the Philadelphia 76ers are hoping the absence of top scorer Jrue Holiday will end at two games.

Holiday could return from a sprained left foot Tuesday night when the visiting 76ers and Mavericks meet in a matchup of teams on three-game losing streaks.

Dallas (11-13) is trying to avoid its longest slide of the season at the start of a difficult week that includes games against Miami, Memphis and San Antonio. The Mavericks knew it would be tough to find consistency while former league MVP Nowitzki recovers from knee surgery.

"As soon as he gets back on the court, the identity of the team can start to build around that," guard Derek Fisher said. "We have no idea when that will be so it's just a matter of creating an identity each night."

Philadelphia (12-12) is enduring its season-worst losing skid with Holiday missing Friday's 95-85 defeat at Indiana and Sunday's 111-98 home loss to the Lakers.

Holiday is averaging 18.4 points and is among the league leaders with 8.9 assists per game. He worked out Monday on his own before the 76ers departed on this two-game trip.

"I gotta see how I react to it," Holiday said. "This is probably the hardest I have gone shooting in the last couple of days. Usually in shootaround, it's just light stuff. But I actually got to jump up and down and break a sweat today."

Coach Doug Collins was not happy that his team allowed the Pacers and Lakers to combine to shoot 45.8 percent from 3-point range in the last two games. Collins believes defenders have had to rotate too much, leaving open shooters.

"Defensively you first must take on the challenge of guarding your guy, you can't be guarding a guy looking for help," Collins said. "I think we've been guarding guys looking for help. We've got to take on that challenge."

Nowitzki has led the Mavericks to six straight home wins in this series. Dallas will try to even the season series after a 100-98 loss Nov. 27.

That contest was tight throughout before Philadelphia took the lead for good in the fourth quarter thanks to a 12-0 run aided by numerous Dallas miscues.

"In that game the stretch that killed us was the six-consecutive-turnover stretch in the fourth quarter," coach Rick Carlisle said.

The Mavs averaged 21.7 turnovers on a 0-3 road trip that began with a double-overtime defeat in Boston and finished with Saturday's 114-106 overtime loss to Minnesota.

"To be honest, we've done uncharacteristically stupid things," Carlisle said. "We've got to work to correct it."

Dallas is among the NBA's worst teams with 15.9 turnovers per game while the 76ers rank second-best in that category at 12.4.

Fisher had yet to join the Mavs when these first met. Chris Kaman scored 20 to lead Dallas and Elton Brand added 17 and eight rebounds in his first game against the team he played with over his previous four seasons.

Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young combined for 42 points for the Sixers.

Mayo, Kaman help Mavericks end 3-game skid

By DAVID JIMENEZ
Posted Dec 19 2012 1:09AM

DALLAS (AP) O.J. Mayo and Chris Kaman didn't want to let another tight game slip away from the Dallas Mavericks.

Mayo scored 26 points, Kaman added 20 and the Mavericks snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Philadelphia 76ers 107-100 Tuesday night.

Dallas was holding on to an 88-82 lead when Mayo and Kaman took over late. The duo scored 17 of the team's last 19 points to help Dallas win their seventh straight at home against the 76ers.

The Mavericks were coming off an 0-3 road trip that included overtime losses to Boston and Minnesota.

Mayo had nine points and three assists in the final 6:17. Kaman, who hasn't played in the fourth quarter or overtime in four of the past five games, had eight points in that stretch.

"It's the most important time of the game," Kaman said. "It's crunch time and I was glad I was out there to finish plays."

Mayo, who also finished with a season-high eight assists, hit a 22-footer and Kaman made three shots in a row in an 8-2 run that made it 96-84. After the 76ers scored the next six, the pair combined to hit three shots in a row to push the lead up to 11.

"We try to involve those guys in a lot of things because they're both playing well," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "(Mayo's) aggression was really the key."

Dorell Wright scored 25 points and Spencer Hawes had 18 for the 76ers, who lost their fourth straight game. Philadelphia point guard Jrue Holiday, the team's leading scorer at nearly 19 points per game, missed his third straight game with a sprained left foot.

"I thought we had some guys play well and we've got to keep building on that," 76ers coach Doug Collins said. "We know we're undermanned, but nobody cares."

Dallas point guard Derek Fisher left the game with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter with a strained right knee and did not return. Fisher, who wasn't expected to play because of the flu, went down to the ground after having his shot blocked by Evan Turner. The 17th-year guard walked slowly to the locker room.

Carlisle said Fisher will have an MRI tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury.

Dallas' Shawn Marion scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The forward surpassed 16,000 points in his career, becoming the 95th player in NBA history to top the milestone.

Turner chipped in with 17 points for the 76ers and Thaddeus Young had 12.

Wright hit seven 3-pointers, including four in the final quarter to keep Philadelphia close.

Wright's consecutive 3s brought the 76ers to 96-90 with 2:50 left before Mayo and Kaman squashed the rally. Mayo drove past Hawes on consecutive layups and Kaman hit a bank shot to make it 102-91 with 1:36 remaining.

Wright made two more 3-pointers to make it 102-97 with 30.2 seconds left, but the Mavericks closed it out by hitting 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch.

The Mavericks face a rugged schedule the rest of the week with games against Miami, Memphis and San Antonio.

"We didn't have a great road trip, obviously," Mayo said. "It was important for us to come home and get a win."

The 76ers kicked off a stretch Tuesday night where they play 10 of 11 on the road. Philadelphia will try to end its slide Wednesday night at Houston.

"We're all NBA players," Wright said. "Everybody has to step up and do their job for us to be successful."

Neither team led by more than five points in the third quarter.

Wright hit a 3 that put Philadelphia on top 74-71 with 50.7 seconds left in the third.

Mayo tied it with a 3 and hit two free throws to give Dallas the lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Darren Collison, who played 30 minutes in place of Fisher, scored the final five points of the first half to give the Mavericks a 57-52 halftime lead.

Young snuck inside for a tip-in basket off a miss to tie the game at 52 with 59.5 seconds left before halftime. Carlisle immediately called a timeout and ripped into his team in the huddle.

Collison responded with a 3-pointer and then hit a pair of free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining to put Dallas ahead by five at halftime.

NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the game in tribute to the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. ... Dallas reserve C Elton Brand (strained right groin) did not play. Brand played three seasons with the 76ers before he was released through the amnesty clause in the offseason. . Philadelphia is 2-7 in December.

Notebook: Mavericks 107, Sixers 100

Dave Ivey, for NBA.com
Posted Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:49 PM - Updated Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:49 PM

THE FACTS: O.J. Mayo and Chris Kaman combined for 17 of the Mavericks' last 19 points as Dallas held off Dorell Wright and the Philadelphia 76ers with a 107-100 win Tuesday at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks (12-13) snapped a three-game slide and handed the slumping Sixers (12-13) their fourth consecutive defeat.

The Mavericks had five in double figures. Mayo tallied 26 points and eight assists and Kaman finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. Shawn Marion added 14 points and nine boards, Darren Collison chipped in 12 points and Brandan Wright had 10 on 5-for-6 shooting.

Wright led Philadelphia with a season-high 25 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Spencer Hawes added 18 off the bench, including the 76ers' first 10 points in the final period. Evan Turner (17), Thaddeus Young (12) and Jason Richardson (11) also scored in double figures.

QUOTABLE: "It's the most important time of the game. It's crunch time, and I was glad I was out there to finish plays and to get a win."
-- Mavericks' Kaman on the fourth quarter.

THE STAT: After averaging 21.3 turnovers during their three-game losing streak, the Mavericks only committed 11. They had zero turnovers in the second quarter and just four in the first half. Dallas finished with a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

TURNING POINT: A 14-4 run enabled the Mavericks to build a 94-82 cushion with four minutes remaining, enough to survive a 3-point barrage by Wright (four treys in the final 3:15).

QUOTABLE II: "This Dallas team's a very good offensive team. They put a lot of pressure on you in a lot of ways, and our weakness they can expose. We just couldn't get the ball stopped and keep it out of the paint at the end of the game."
-- Philadelphia head coach Doug Collins.

HOT: The Mavericks are 11-1 (8-0 at home) when leading entering the fourth quarter. ... Dallas shot 54.2 percent from the field and 86.2 percent (25-for-29) at the line.

NOT: The Sixers are 1-12 (0-6 on the road) when trailing after three quarters. ... Richardson was 1-for-7 from 3-point range.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Mavericks point guard Derek Fisher left midway through the first quarter with a strained patellar tendon in his right knee and did not return. There didn't appear to be contact, but he fell to the floor after getting his layup attempt blocked by Turner. He walked to the locker room under his own power. Battling the flu, the 38-year-old Fisher made a surprise appearance in the starting lineup after head coach Rick Carlisle said he wasn't going to play. He will have an MRI on Wednesday. "We don't believe it's serious," Carlisle said.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The Mavericks paid a pregame tribute to season-ticket holder Fisher Floyd, 30, who died last week in a small plane crash. Carlisle, who attended the funeral Tuesday, said he got to know Floyd because he sat behind the team's bench and attended Mavericks fantasy camps. "He was a great guy," Carlisle said.

ROOKIE WATCH: Sixers guard Maalik Wayns was only 1-for-7 from the field (1-for-5 from long distance), but dished a game-high nine assists in 21 minutes off the bench. The undrafted free agent from Villanova entered the night with 11 assists in his first 16 games.

NOTABLE: This game began a stretch in which the 76ers play 10 of 11 games on the road, including a season-high eight straight from Dec. 23-Jan. 5. ... Point guard Jrue Holiday (sore left foot) missed his third straight game for Philadelphia and Dallas forward Elton Brand (right groin strain) did not play against his former team. ... Marion (16,011) became the 95th player in NBA history to reach the 16,000-point plateau. ... Nick Young had a four-point play in the first quarter. ... Dallas is 6-0 at home against the Eastern Conference. ... The Mavs have won seven straight at home against Philly.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Thursday vs. Miami, Friday @ Memphis, Sunday @ San Antonio. For the 76ers, Wednesday @ Houston, Friday vs. Atlanta, Sunday @ Brooklyn.

• 76ers: Bynum
• Mavericks: Cunningham, Nowitzki

• 76ers: --
• Mavericks: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #6 Tony Brown, #73 Tre Maddox
• Attendance: 20162
• Duration: 2:20