Dallas was able to tie the game up at 53 with 7:33 left in the 3rd. The Sixers held a slim lead for the majority of the quarter but Monta Ellis and Shawn Marion picked up their scoring for Dallas who had 31 3rd quarter points and took a 74-71 lead into the 4th. Poor shooting from the floor and foul line plagued the Sixers, especially down the stretch. The Mavs pulled ahead by 7 points on three different occasions in the final quarter. The Sixers continued to get to the basket but could not finish. The lead was cut to 4 with :22 seconds left but Dallas secured their win with a free throw from Ellis. Philadelphia lost a close one, 97-94.
The 76ers only had 12 turnovers (under their 17.8 per game average) and forced 20 Dallas turnovers. Philadelphia's hustle also secured 18 offensive rebounds and outscored the Mavs in fast break points 31-16. They outscored Dallas 54-26 in the paint. With those statistics the Sixers should have won, so what went wrong? Shooting, The Sixers shot an ugly 38.4% from the floor, 28.6% from three, and only hit 12 of 22 from the line. 10 missed free throws are huge in a close game. Philly's bench also got outplayed, a combined plus/minus of -41 while on the floor (starters were +26).
Evan Turner filled out his stat sheet with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Spencer Hawes had 10 points, grabbed 11 boards and blocked 3 shots. Tony Wroten added 19 points, 3 assists, and 5 steals but missed 6 free throws. Wroten was consistently able to drive to the basket but could not finish in the second half. Young finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals while Anderson scored 14, grabbed 7 rebounds and also stripped the ball away 3 times.
Ellis had a great second half for Dallas, finishing with 24 (19 second half points) and 10 assists. Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 and ended with 10 rebounds. Marion also recorded 20 points, surprisingly hitting 2 threes with his unorthodox (to put it nicely) jumpshot.
The Sixers drop to 5-7 (1-4 on the road), yet still hold 1st place in the struggling Atlantic division. This begins Philly's first 3 game losing streak of the season. The Sixers return home to play the Raptors Wednesday night, in their first game against a divisional opponent.
By: Matt Ryan
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