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 On Tuesday night, the Mavericks fell behind the Sacramento Kings
by 24 points, only to rally and win. And on Thursday night, Dallas
blitzed Philadelphia for an almost unbelievable 44-point halftime
lead in an epic 123-70 blowout of the winless 76ers at the American
Airlines Center.
Dallas (6-3) jumped out to a 23-7 lead after seven minutes and led
38-10 after the first quarter, the largest margin after one quarter
in franchise history.
The Mavs continued to pour it on from there against the overmatched
Sixers (0-8). Philadelphia was historically pitiful in just about
every phase of the game, committing 28 turnovers and shooting 29.9
percent from the field and 51.5 percent from the free-throw line.
About the only thing that went Philly's way was the opening tip.
Dallas headed to the locker room at halftime with the scoreboard
showing 73-30, and then to add insult to injury, the Sixers were
docked a point after replay revealed an earlier 3-pointer should
have counted as two points. The score was rolled back to 73-29. If
it were a boxing match, the referee would have had no choice but to
stop it right there.
 The Mavs' largest halftime lead in franchise history was also the
Sixers' biggest halftime deficit in the shot-clock era (since
1954-55).
Dallas became the only team in the shot-clock era to score 70 points
or more in the first half while surrendering fewer than 30. The
53-point win goes down as the Mavs' largest ever, eclipsing their
50-point rout of the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on
Jan. 24, 2010.
"We never let up there for the entire night," Mavs star forward Dirk
Nowitzki said. "I thought we kept coming all night long, so that was
definitely a good win for us. ... It was an all-around good effort,
and it's over now. We've got to focus on Minnesota tomorrow and
finish the homestand off right."
The Sixers didn't reach the 20-point mark until more than halfway
through the second quarter. At the end of the third quarter, Dallas'
lead was 42 points (95-53), tying the franchise's largest lead after
three.
In the first quarter, Philadelphia made just four field goals and
had one assist while turning the ball over nine times. Dallas,
meanwhile, outscored the Sixers merely from the free-throw line,
going 14-for-14.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged the Grand Canyon-sized margin
of victory and said his team must move on.
"The sum total of the whole thing was that our guys played hard,"
Carlisle said.
What in the world did Sixers coach Brett Brown have to say to his
young team when it was all over?
"We talked a lot about the good news -- it's the NBA (and) you get
another game tomorrow," Brown said. "The bad news is it doesn't go
away. It's like water dripping on your forehead and there's no place
to hide. And, so, as a group we have to figure out a way to compete.
The thing I feel bad about is to see what they do every single day.
They don't cheat days. Nobody skips days, and they work their tails
off, and the whole process is solid.
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"But to come out here and to play like that, you know, it's an
eye-opener. There's no doubt about it. (The Mavericks) are the
oldest, most experienced team in the NBA, and we are the youngest,
with the least experience, and it showed in every way. And so, we
wake up tomorrow and we find a way to move on and try to find ways
to grow from this."
Nowitzki, who on Tuesday moved past Hakeem Olajuwon into ninth place
on the NBA's career scoring list and became the leading scorer among
international players, added 21 points in 20 minutes Thursday. He
connected on seven of eight shots from the field.
Dallas guard Monta Ellis had 17 points, four assists and four
rebounds, and forward Chandler Parsons and reserve center Brandan
Wright each had 14 points. Center Tyson Chandler had nine points and
10 rebounds. None of them played beyond the third quarter.
Forward Charlie Villanueva came off Dallas' bench in the fourth
quarter and scored 10 points in eight minutes, outscoring every
Sixers player except guards Tony Wroten and Michael Carter-Williams.
Philadelphia had one starter score in double figures. Wroten had 11
points. Carter-Williams, who made his season debut after recovering
from shoulder surgery, came off the bench for 19 points on 6-of-19
shooting from the field. He added five assists.
After being competitive in earlier games, Philadelphia lost its last
two games by a combined 85 points.
"None of us in this locker room will ever get used to losing like
that," Carter-Williams said. "None of us were ever used to losing,
period. We're upset after every loss, but we do go out there and try
to win. We will never get used to losing like that or losing at
all."
The Sixers are the only NBA team still searching for its first win.
They might have to wait a while longer. Their road trip continues at
Houston on Friday and then at the defending champion San Antonio
Spurs on Monday.
NOTES: G Devin Harris, in his second stint with Dallas, played in
his 300th game with the franchise. ... Dallas G Jameer Nelson left
Tuesday's game against the Sacramento Kings with a right hamstring
injury, but he was in the starting lineup Thursday. ... Mavericks G
Raymond Felton remained sidelined due to a right ankle sprain. Once
active, he will begin to serve a four-game suspension for a weapons
charge dating from last season, when he was with the New York
Knicks. ... Philadelphia's last win in Dallas was Jan. 29, 2005, a
span of nine games.
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