The Philadelphia 76ers snapped their three game losing streak with a gritty win over a Dallas Mavericks team that continues to spiral down the Western Conference Standings. Joel Embiid returned after missing the Sixers game in Denver to lead his team to the 116-108 victory on Wednesday night.
Philly’s big two back
The Sixers weren’t the only one’s coming into the game on a slide. Dallas had lost seven of their previous ten before Wednesday night to drop out of postseason seeding in the West.
Both Joel Embiid and James Harden returned from injuries for the game against Dallas, as they gear up for a final push to end the regular season and into the playoffs.
Dallas came out like the more desperate team to open the game as Kyrie Irving helped the Mavs build a double digit lead in the first quarter. The Sixers would battle back on multiple occasions but Dallas maintained their lead as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving looked like they might have been starting to click in the first half.
Doncic had 24, 10 and 8 assists and Irving poured in another 23, but the Mavs ran out of steam after protecting the lead for more than three quarters. Embiid and Tyrese Maxey kept the Sixers within striking distance until late on after the Mavs failed to bury Philly on their home court.
Mavs in a free fall
Embiid had 25 and 9 rebounds and Maxey added another 22 as Philly wore the Mavs down and pounced as soon as they saw their chance. Embiid’s elbow jumper with under six minutes to go gave the Sixers the lead they would keep until the end of the game.
The Mavs offense went silent in the final seven minutes of the game, which will only further speculation of the debacle in Dallas. A team with two top talents in the league scored just five points in the final seven minutes as the Mavs dropped even farther away from Play-In positioning.
The Sixers snapped their losing streak, and will maintain their edge over Cleveland who is in fourth place in the East. Their chances at a one seed most likely ended during their three game losing streak, but they will still have an eye on the Celtics in the two seed just two games above Philly.
