Snow Joke: Dallas Bounce-Back vs. Embiid, 76ers? Mavs GAMEDAY
DALLAS - With snow on the ground in Dallas, the Mavericks look to heat up against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers in a nationally-televised contest on Friday night at American Airlines Center. After initially having their flight delayed due to the freezing temperatures, per DallasBasketball.com sources, the Sixers have made it to Dallas for the game.
The Mavs' six-game home stand got off to a rough start Wednesday after falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime despite Luka Doncic's 40 points. It was Dallas' second loss in a row to a bottom-tier NBA team after suffering a surprising loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
Slowing down MVP candidate Embiid will be no easy task, especially with Mavs big man Kristaps Porzingis out with a right knee bone bruise. It will be the third-consecutive game Porzingis has missed.
Despite the Ben Simmons drama, Philadelphia has won 15 of its last 19 games and is currently No. 3 in the Eastern Conference.
A victory will take an another outstanding performance from Doncic, who was just selected for his third NBA All-Star appearance.
WILD WEST: With just 30 games remaining, the Mavs are No. 5 in the Western Conference standings. Dallas trails Utah by just two games with three head-to-head matchups vs. the Jazz left on the schedule.
DID YOU KNOW? Philadelphia won both games last season by 14+ points. Last season’s sweep marked just the second time in the last 21 seasons that the Sixers swept a season series with the Mavericks.
INJURY REPORT: Sterling Brown (left foot soreness) is out; Tim Hardaway Jr. (left foot surgery) is out; Kristaps Porzingis (right knee bone bruise) is out.
RECORDS: DALLAS MAVERICKS (29-23) VS. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (31-20)
WHEN: Friday, February 4, 2022 at 9:00 p.m. CT
LOCATION: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)
TV/RADIO: ESPN, BSSW, 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL)
ODDS: The Mavs are 1.5-point favorites over the Sixers.
NEXT: This is game two of a six-game home stand. Next up is the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, and a pair of games against the Los Angeles Clippers.
LAST WORD Doncic on the Mavs' lack of defensive focus in the last two games:
“I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it, but we [have] got to do way better than this.”
