Recap: Mavericks 82 at 76ers 75

Earl K. Sneed reports from Philadelphia and recaps the Dallas Mavericks' come-from-behind win Friday night against the 76ers as the defending champions extended their winning streak to six.

PHILADELPHIA — The defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks were flying high heading into Friday night’s matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers while riding a five-game winning streak. But the team received some sobering news before the game even began with the announcement that newcomer Delonte West figures to be sidelined for a while.

After fracturing his right ring finger in the first half of Wednesday night’s 102-84 win over the Denver Nuggets, West underwent successful surgery to stabilize the finger. With a second procedure still to come to remove the stabilizing pins before he can return to basketball activity, no timetable is set for West’s return.

“The surgery went well and he’ll be out a number of weeks. We’re not exactly sure how long,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said before Friday night’s showdown in Philly. “But in the meantime, we’re gonna have to scramble a little bit.”

The coach must have forgotten that he still has All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki on his team. And with Nowitzki coming to the rescue after his team faced a double-digit deficit in the first half, scoring 24 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, the Mavericks (20-11) continued their winning ways with a sixth straight W after an 82-75 victory.

“We kind of take everybody’s best hit,” Nowitzki said after the come-from-behind win, “and we still play well. And, obviously, we had some personal tragedies in the last couple days, so hopefully we can get some of our guys back.”

“If we keep getting the ball to Dirk, it doesn’t matter how bad things are looking,” second-year guard Dominique Jones added. “He’s gonna make some things happen.”

With West on the mend and both Jason Terry and Rodrigue Beaubois away from the team due to personal reasons, the shorthanded Mavericks stepped into the Wells Fargo Center looking for a sixth straight victory. The squad also went in search of a win to begin a two-game road trip before tangling with ex-Maverick Tyson Chandler and the New York Knicks in a matinee matchup Sunday.

The Mavericks would begin the night with some early struggles, however, missing their first five shots from the field. Still, behind a quick start by center Brendan Haywood to balance out a 0-for-5 start by forward Shawn Marion, the Mavericks grabbed an early advantage. In place of their three missing guards, the Mavs got an early lift from Jones as well. But the Sixers would return fire with a balanced offensive attacking led by Andre Iguodala, battling back to take a 27-21 lead at the end of one quarter of play after hitting 12-of-22 from the field compared to Dallas’ 9-of-26 shooting in the period.

It wouldn’t take long into the second period for the Mavs to find themselves in a double-digit hole after Nikola Vucevic’s dunk forced Carlisle to call timeout with his team down 35-23 with 10:11 left in the half. Finding brief success with point guard Jason Kidd operating from the post, the Mavs remained in the game. Still, after trailing by as much as 15, the Mavs faced a 51-37 deficit at the halftime break.

The Mavs faced the disadvantage after holding a lead or being tied at the break in 15 straight games. And with Marion and Nowitzki a combined 3-of-18 from the field, the Mavericks were outshot through two quarters, 45.5 percent to 32.6 percent.

“I really tried to find my rhythm early and get some baskets and get going, but for some reason that wasn’t happening,” Nowitzki said of his four-point first half. “I felt like I had some good looks but everything was short. In the second half, I had the same mindset, just had a couple go in. And when a shooter sees a couple go in his confidence shows up.”

While Nowitzki began to come to life as the third quarter got underway, Marion continued to struggle. After bringing his team back with his outside shooting, though, Nowitzki connected on a 3-pointer to give the Mavs the lead thanks to a 14-0 run. And after a 19-2 start to the quarter and 12 points by Nowitzki, the Mavs headed into the final period with a 61-59 edge despite a buzzer-beating jumper by Lou Williams.

With Marion shaking off his shooting struggles and leading the defensive charge, the Sixers (20-11) scored a season-low for any period with eight points in the third quarter.

“I’m a competitor and I don’t believe in playing one side of the floor,” Marion said after a 3-for-13 night. “I’ve always been like that my whole career and I pride myself on that. True basketball players are gonna find a way to help their team whether they’re able to score or not.”

“That third quarter, which has been our worst quarter all season, turned out to be our best quarter at both ends tonight,” Kidd added.

With the teams evenly knotted, a spinning Lamar Odom scored and drew the foul before Kidd connected on a shot from behind the arc to give Dallas a 72-63 lead with 6:29 remaining after a 9-0 run.

“It was 63-63 and we were like, ‘Hey, who’s gonna make a stand?’ Dirk made some great plays down the stretch and everybody kind of touched the ball,” Kidd said of the performance in the fourth.

Marion then broke out of his slump, draining a runner to answer Thaddeus Young’s jumper. Fittingly, however, it was Nowitzki that provided the dagger, connecting on a fadeaway bank-in and then another vintage jumper to up the lead to 80-71 inside of the game’s final 3:00. And with his team up four and 35.8 seconds remaining, Nowitzki then put the Sixers to bed for the night with a perfect pair at the foul line.

Hitting 10-of-22 from the field and pulling down 12 rebounds on the night, Nowitzki recorded a double-double and matched the Sixers’ second-half scoring production. Jones added 12 points off the bench, falling one shy of his career-high, while Carter pitched in 10 points in the starting unit.

Vucevic led four Sixers in double figures with 16 points off the Philly bench on 7-of-8 shooting. The Sixers also outscored the Mavs 36-28 in the paint and 18-12 in second-chance points as both teams finished with 12 fast-break points. But the Mavs finished the night outshooting the Sixers, 38.3 percent to 33.7 percent, in addition to a 51-48 rebounding advantage.

“I thought, defensively, we have been really solid over this six-game winning streak,” Nowitzki concluded. “I think we’re working. We knew that they were guard-oriented with [Jrue] Holiday and Lou Williams being their top scorers. So, we really tried to make it hard on them. We tried to keep them out of the paint and scramble from there. I thought we did a good job rebounding and then pushed the ball from there. I think that even last year, that’s when we’re at our best — when we get stops, when we rebound, push the ball and get stuff in transition.”

“Dirk is a great player, and he is obviously feeling better now. He has put together great games our last six games,” Carlisle added. “At this point, this is not a shock. The key to the game was our defense, and I also thought Dominique Jones filling in tonight for our three absent guards that have been regular guys for us was really important. The story of the game was our defense. We only allowed 24 points in the second half, which is a phenomenal job defensively. They missed some shots, but our guys were into it. Right now, that is our identity as a team. We are a defense-first team.”

Note: Riding a six-game winning streak, the Mavs return to action Sunday when they travel to meet Tyson Chandler and the New York Knicks to end a two-game road trip. The game will air nationally on ABC at noon CT.

The Mavs return to the American Airlines Center next Monday night when they host the Boston Celtics. Dallas leads the season series 1-0 after a 90-85 win in Boston on Jan. 11. That game will air nationally on TNT at 7 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Dr. Pepper Family Nights are here! Plans include four Mavs tickets and four McDonald’s extra value meals, starting at $49. Visit mavs.com or call 214-747-MAVS for a schedule of games and to purchase tickets.