Well that was something...
The 76ers (116) defeated the Mavericks (74) on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The first quarter of this matchup actually wasn’t too bad, it had all the elements of what could have been a good game, but unfortunately it sorta ended there. Afterwards, the 76ers just picked apart a lifeless and seemingly uninterested Mavericks team for more than two quarters.
There were signs of this one going really south at the end of the first half, but there was still some light shining through the clouds with Nerlens Noel scoring eight points, two rebounds, three assists and a block in 12 minutes.
He would finish with only nine points, five rebounds and three assists in limited playing time due to the Mavs being down by a million and playing the back of the bench the entire second half.
Then there was that third quarter which let’s all just agree not to talk about again after this. The Mavericks scored 16 points total and only seven in the first six minutes. Meanwhile the 76ers shot lights out and put up 36 points and had a whole lot of fun while they were doing it.
The Mavericks’ leading scorer tonight was Dwight Powell with 14 points, so yeah... it was one of THOSE types of nights.
Here’s a few things from that thing that happened tonight which we’re calling a basketball game.
Justin Anderson had his fun
Justin soared down the wing, got to the three point line, pulled up and swished his first shot with such grace and poise. At this moment I realised that he might just have one of those games where he actually does all the things that he’s good at.
There were plenty of smiles coming from Anderson all game, especially while he flew through the air with a couple of huge put-back dunks. After one of these dunks he literally flexed like a gladiator after he just completed his final kill.
Justin finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes while shooting 63.6 percent from the field.
Something is still wrong with Wesley Matthews
After a string of poor games, this one could have been a game to get him back into some sort of form. It wasn’t meant to be tonight, as Wes gave us three points, two rebounds and two assists, on a forgettable 12.5 percent shooting.
Matthews has shown us in the past that he is totally capable of coming back from such a poor shooting slump, but this one doesn’t seem to showing any signs of getting better.
Perhaps we will see him break out of his slump before the end of the season. Unless he’s got a lingering injury that’s hampering his performance—maybe the Mavs will look to hold him out for a while now that their playoff hopes are seemingly done. Speaking of which.
Forget about the playoffs
For those fans that were still thinking it was a possibility for this season to feature the playoffs. I’m sorry, but it’s over. It was already going to be hard enough to get there with a Mavs win tonight, but this loss is the last nail in the coffin.
In the remaining 14 games, the Mavs will face the likes of the Clippers, Thunder, Warriors, Spurs, Pelicans, Bucks, Nuggets and the Raptors. This is going to be really tough run home.
It may just be the bitter taste left in my mouth from that game, but their chances are done. Donezo. Sorry all.
What’s next?
The Mavericks will take on the Nets on Sunday night in Brooklyn at 11:00 CST. You can catch the game on Fox Sports Southwest or league pass for those outside the Dallas area.