3 things we learned as Mavs torch 76ers, 113-95

Already riding high from back-to-back wins against the Spurs and Cavs, the resurgent Dallas Mavericks hosted another hot team with a similar record — the Philadelphia 76ers -- and put together a stellar performance.

ALL HAIL SALAH

It would be crazy to start discussion of tonight’s game with something other than Salah Mejri, who tallied 16 points and 17 rebounds in 21 minutes of action. Mejri had double-digit rebounds early in the first half, but in the second half he started to put the ball in the hoop, often by way of thunderous dunking. Mejri has had moments before — mostly last season - but this was something else entirely. He left midway through the 4th quarter with the game in hand to a standing ovation.

SETH ALSO PUTS ON A SHOW

The outside part of the Mavs’ inside-outside combo was Seth Curry, who put together an and-one mixtape’s worth of dribble moves, along with his usual silky smooth shooting. The younger Curry brother led all scorers with 22 points, and also racked up 4 steals, and 6 assists. Curry and the rest of the Mavs were a little slow out of the gate, but Seth was a big reason why Dallas scored at least 30 points in each of the final three frames.

IS DALLAS SUDDENLY BACK IN THE PLAYOFF HUNT?

Disregard all those articles where we said the Mavs couldn’t make the playoffs, because..uh, they have a pretty decent chance of making things at least close down the stretch. Dallas’ victory, coupled with a potential Nuggets loss, would leave the Mavs just 2 and a half games out of the 8th spot in the West. Oh, and their next three games will be against the two teams immediately in front of them, the Blazers(twice) and those Nuggets. Buckle up.