The Dallas Mavericks were dominated yet again by the Philadelphia 76ers, losing 113 to 95 on Monday night. Luka Doncic led the Mavericks in scoring, putting up 32 points as well as four rebounds and four assists. Jalen Brunson started and scored 15, and Dorian Finney-Smith chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds. Other than that, Doncic really got no other help.
Joel Embiid led the way for the Sixers, scoring 36 points and grabbing seven rebounds. The Mavericks had no answer for the Philadelphia big man. Kristaps Porzingis sat and Willie Cauley-Stein was playing for the first time in weeks. But even at full strength the Mavericks would have struggled to slow down Embiid. Somehow Furkan Korkmaz got 20 points, and that’s really all you need to know about this game.
Here are some stats to think about while digesting another dispiriting loss:
33.7%: The percentage of the Mavericks’ points Luka scored.
15 players saw minutes for Dallas, and 13 of them scored. But Luka’s 32 points made up a full third of the total scoring for the Mavericks. That’s insane, unsustainable, and quite frankly, infuriating. The rest of the team has to step up and hit the open shots they’re getting.
15: The number of free throws attempted by Joel Embiid.
Embiid benefited from the Mavericks having no one to guard him and a generous whistle from the refs. Significantly, Embiid took only one less free throw than the entire Mavericks team. Dallas went 16-20 at the charity stripe. Doncic got calls for once, going to the line 11 times and converting 10 of those trips. It’s a little concerning, though, that he accounted for more than half of the Mavericks’ free throw attempts. It sheds light on the Mavericks’ lack of players who can dribble penetrate.
22: The Sixers points off of Mavericks turnovers.
Dallas is usually careful with the ball, averaging a little under 12 turnovers per game. Only the Jazz turn the ball over less. But the Mavericks were a little bit sloppy against Philadelphia, giving the ball up 15 times. More importantly, though, the Sixers capitalized on those turnovers and scored when given the chance. The Mavericks aren’t strong on transition defense, and live ball turnovers are always a recipe for giving up easy points. Give the Sixers credit—they made the Mavericks pay tonight.