11/28/12
The 76ers were coming off a close win against the Phoenix
Suns on Sunday and last night they were playing against another sub-par team in
the Mavs. Elton Brand, a former 76er for the past four years, was coming back
to Philly, but in a Mavs uniform. O.J. Mayo is the Mavs best player on the team
right now averaging 21.5 points per game and the 76ers had to find a way to
contain him. With the 76ers having the fifth worst offense in the NBA and the
Mavs having the third worst defense in the NBA, could the 76ers have another
offensive outburst like they had in their past two games? The only key injury
in this game was Dirk Nowitzki for the Mavs. He had surgery on his knee that
will make him miss the first 6-8 weeks of the regular season.
The 76ers yet again started off hot in the first quarter,
but simmered down once the Mavs woke up on offense and played with intensity on
defense. The 76ers turned the ball over nine times, which is a lot in the first
half. The Mavs, just like the 76ers, are a team that wants to run up and down
the floor on offense. The one thing I liked in this half was that the 76ers
went to the free throw line 18 times. That’s something you see from the 76ers
in a game, not in a half. Both the 76ers and Mavs are good three-point shooting
teams. The 76ers were nailing their three’s, but the Mavs were not. At the end
of the first half, the Mavs led 56-53. Evan Turner led the 76ers with 14 points
in the half. Chris Kaman led the Mavs with 13 points and finished with 20.
Also, Brand had a stellar first half scoring 12 points and grabbing five
rebounds. He finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in his return to
Philly.
The 76ers took control of the second half although they made
it interesting in the end. Whenever the 76ers went on a big run, the Mavs would
answer back with a run of their own. The Mavs never went away. The Mavs had a
chance to win or tie the game in the final seconds when Jrue Holiday fouled
Mayo. Mayo had to shoot two free throws to tie the game. He missed the first
free throw. He had to intentionally miss the second free throw in order for the
Mavs to get one more chance to win or tie the game. Jae Crowder got the
offensive rebound and heaved up a three at the buzzer and it just missed from
going in the basket to win the game. In the end, the 76ers won 100-98.
In
the first half, the Mavs took care of the basketball. In the second half, the
76ers forced the Mavs to turn the ball over 12 times. This is a rare thing for
anyone to say, but Kwame Brown played fantastic basketball in the second half.
It wasn’t on the stat sheet that made him fantastic, but his defensive presence
was felt when he was guarding Kaman and players that were taking shots in the
paint. Thaddeus Young scored 11 of his 20 points in the second half. He also
finished with seven rebounds. Turner had 22 points and led the 76ers in that
category. Holiday had a steller game finishing
with 18 points and seven assists. I will give a shoutout to Maalik Wayns for
scoring 10 points tonight. He’s an undrafted rookie from Villanova, and is from
Philly. His energy was felt in this game by attacking the basket swiftly and
drawing fouls. Vince Carter ended with 15 points and Darren Collison had 12
points, six assists, and five steals.
Overall, the 76ers shot the ball well and attacked the rim
tonight. They had 32 free throws attempted, which is a season high for them.
They outrebounded the Mavs, which is a good thing because the Mavs are one of
the worst rebounding teams in the NBA. It seemed like Holiday
went back to his old ways in the beginning of the season when he committed six
turnovers in the game. The 76ers also did a great job defending Mayo. He was
held to only 11 points, which is 10 points below his average, but he did have
seven assists. The fans received free Big Macs since the 76ers scored 100
points and everyone goes home happy.
Should Doug Collins
continue playing Maalik Wayns since he’s been playing well consistently? Sound
off and stay tuned to my next entry on Friday when the 76ers travel to
Charlotte to take on the Bobcats.
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