Mavs’ Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic Credit 76ers for Being ‘Great’

The first time the Dallas Mavericks faced the Philadelphia 76ers this season, the star backcourt duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined for over 80 points. Their sharpshooting helped the Mavericks secure a win over the Sixers.

On Wednesday, the two teams met in South Philly for the final time this season. Through the first half of action, the Mavericks found success against the Sixers, as they gained a slight 62-57 lead.

While the Sixers managed to outscore the Mavericks 32-29 in the third quarter, Dallas still held the lead going into the fourth. Then that’s when the Mavericks lost control.

Dallas shot just 37 percent from the field in the final quarter of action. As they put up 12 shots from three, only a few were successful. By the end of the fourth quarter, the Sixers had outscored the Mavericks 27-17.

At the end of the game, Mavs’ star Luka Doncic explained what went right for the 76ers, a team that he credited for being “great.”

“They're a great team,” Doncic told reporters. “Sometimes they're gonna make a run. I think at the end of the second quarter, they made threes. They just went on a run.”

Dallas guard Kyrie Irving echoed a similar sentiment while explaining what went wrong from Dallas’s standpoint.

“I think you’ve seen it with some of the great teams in our league over the past few years of finishing ballgames is a sense of toughness,” Irving explained. “You know, there’s an IQ that’s there for the possessions that matter, and I think a few times throughout the game, the second and third quarter was very careless, and we just weren’t playing with that desperation that we needed where we are at the point of the season.”

Dallas had control of Wednesday night’s game for quite some time, but the Sixers’ fourth-quarter performance was enough to get out in front and put the competition away. After nine lead changes, the Sixers finished out on top. They sent the Mavericks home with a 116-108 loss, collecting their 50th win of the year.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.