Mavericks fall in the clutch to Joel Embiid, 76ers, 118-116

The Dallas Mavericks took on the Philadelphia 76ers on the road on Tuesday night, still dealing with injuries and the fall-out from two trades this week, including a trade between these two teams. That left Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Dwight Powell, PJ Washington, and Caleb Martin out for Dallas and a bunch of people out for Philly, including Paul George, Quentin Grimes, Kyle Lowry, and more.

Dallas started Kyrie Irving, Dante Exum, Klay Thompson, Kessler Edwards, and Daniel Gafford, while the 76ers started Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., Justin Edwards, Guerschon Yabusele, and Joel Embiid.

Dante Exum scored six of the first eight points for the Mavericks, but they were staring at an early 12-8 deficit after Joel Embiid scored seven. Max Christie scored his first points as a Maverick not long after this, but Kyrie Irving started to carry the offensive burden a little.

But Tyrese Maxey also started to cook for the 76ers, hitting three straight baskets. Spencer Dinwiddie hit a couple of threes kept Dallas in the game, and by the end of the quarter, Philly had a 36-31 lead, with Maxey up to 11 points for the quarter.

Dallas started the second quarter on a 12-2 run to take the lead, getting Max Christie's second three-pointer of the game and closed off by Klay Thompson's first. This gave Dallas a little hold on the game, as they'd lead by as much as seven following a runner by Kyrie Irving.

Philly's offense woke back up after that, getting six straight points from Joel Embiid and another five from Tyrese Maxey. Dallas was getting the line much more often than the 76ers were, but they weren't doing a great job of converting on their chances. It would be free throws by the Sixers that tied the game again just before the end of the half. But a 9-2 run by Dallas, closed off by Tyrese Maxey getting ripped by Naji Marshall and finishing at the buzzer on the other end, gave Dallas a 65-58 lead heading into halftime.

Kyrie Irving started the second half strong as Dallas opened up an eight-point lead, which included a Klay Thompson and-one. But Philadelphia dominated the rest of the quarter.

Dallas had gone back up by eight with 6:34 to go in the third quarter, but the 76ers went on a 21-6 run for the remainder of the period, fueled by Tyrese Maxey and Justin Edwards. That gave the 76ers a 94-87 lead heading into the final frame.

Kyrie Irving helped get the Mavericks back within one to start the fourth, hitting two free throws and getting a finger roll. But Tyrese Maxey would not go away, pushing the lead back up to eight for the 76ers with 7:20 to go. For a while there, in the fourth quarter, it felt like it would be one of those games where Dallas could get close but never all the way back.

But that run finally came for the Mavs. A 12-2 run that was started by three free throws from Kyrie Irving and ended with Klay Thompson hitting a three gave Dallas a 109-107 lead with 4:25 to go. That would be the first of seven lead changes over the next three minutes, with Naji Marshall tipping in a putback dunk to put Dallas up 116-115 with 1:26 to go.

After a few sloppy possession, Embiid put the 76ers back in front with 22 seconds to go. Naji Marshall missed a floater attempt on the ensuing play, but Dallas still had a chance, as Embiid split his free throws with five seconds to go.

The 76ers used their foul to give immediately after Kyrie Irving got the ball, which was with about 3.9 seconds to go. Dallas tried to run the same play, Irving was double-teamed, so he passed it off to Dante Exum, and Exum fumbled the ball trying to get it to Naji Marshall. The Mavericks would fall 118-116.

This was a weirdly even game in the stat sheet, as both teams were 11/33 from three and had 12 turnovers, but Dallas won the rebounding battle, went to the free-throw line a lot more, and fouled less. But Philly had 37 assists on 47 made baskets compared to Dallas' 24 assists on 40 made field goals.

Kyrie Irving led the way for the Mavericks, putting up 34 points and 9 rebounds. Naji Marshall (19 points), Max Christie in his Mavs debut (15 points), Dante Exum (14 points), Daniel Gafford (left the game near the end with injury, 12 points), and Klay Thompson (12 points) joined Irving in double-figures.

Tyrese Maxey (33 points and 13 assists) and Joel Embiid (29 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists) led the way for the 76ers. Guerschon Yabusele (19 points and 8 rebounds) and Justin Edwards (16 points) were the other players in double-figures for Philly.

Dallas will conclude their road trip on Thursday night in Boston.

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