Embiid again leads the way in Sixers victory over Mavericks, 111-101 | Analysis

Joel Embiid’s facial expression after an awkward turn or a bump from behind were the only giveaways.

The 76ers star is playing with a bad back, but hardly anyone would know it by Friday night’s performance. Embiid was his normal dominating self, leading the Sixers to a 111-101 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at the Wells Fargo Center.

He finished with game highs of 32 points and five steals to go with eight rebounds as the Eastern Conference’s third-place team improved to 43-26. It was Embiid’s league-leading 33rd game with at least 30 points. He did all that

“I’m OK,” Embiid said of his back. “I just got to keep pushing. What, 13 more games [to the end of the season]? We’re almost there. Then we will figure out the rest later.

“I’m fine. We just got to keep pushing.”

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But he wasn’t alone in regards to having a solid game, offensively and defensively.

The Sixers had five double-digit scorers. And utilizing a zone defense, they actually beat the Mavs (43-27) with their own medicine.

That had a hand in Luka Dončić's shooting woes. The Mavs’ MVP candidate finished with 17 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds, but only made 5 of 20 shots and had six turnovers.

“The zone was great,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We work on it every day. We’ve been doing it more and more over the last five or six games. We like it. We just think our guys are pretty high IQ guys. It throws a team off rhythm. We stay in it if it’s effective just like teams do against us. So it’s been good. It’s been great tonight for us.”

Back on Feb. 4, the Sixers were helpless against the zone in a loss to Mavs in Dallas. The Mavs went to it in the second half and the Sixers struggled to adapt, shooting 3-for-14 (21.4%).

“We did a really good job tonight,” Embiid said. “It kind of reminded me of the last time we played against them at their place. We started off well. They went to that zone and that took us out of the game.

“I feel like we did the same thing tonight, and it worked out well. I think the activity we all had, especially the guys at the top of the zone, was huge, recovering, doing what they do best. It was good to see.”

James Harden finished with 24 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds, two steals, and a block. Starters Tobias Harris (14 points) and Matisse Thybulle (10 points, two steals, and a block) and reserve Georges Niang (12 points) were the other double-digit scorers. Meanwhile, reserve center DeAndre Jordan (eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, seven rebounds, and one block) had his best game since signing with the Sixers on March 3.

Former Villanova standout Jalen Brunson paced the Mavs with 24 points.

The center was listed as questionable with back soreness prior to Friday night’s game, marking the second consecutive game he was listed with the ailment. On Wednesday, Embiid collected game highs of 35 points and 17 rebounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers after his uncertain status.

On Friday, the MVP frontrunner made 11 of 20 shots and went 8 of 9 from the foul line.

Embiid scored 21 of his points in the first half. It marked the 60th time this season that he scored at least 15 points in the half. That tied him for the NBA lead with Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan.

“He’s just playing through everything,” Rivers said of Embiid dealing with back pain. “I go back to the same thing. He’s in great shape. Conditioning allows you to play through injury, allows you to play through pain, and he’s doing that.

“He wants to play. The games he’s sat, he’s not actually wanted to [do it]. He’d been told he had to. It’s been good. He’s been great.”

Harden, the perennial All-NBA guard, has been trying to be more aggressive since being acquired from the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 10. He didn’t have a problem doing that in the fourth quarter of his 10th game with the Sixers.

He scored 11 of his points in the final quarter while making all three of his baskets, including two three-pointers. Harden also had four assists while playing 11 minutes.

“Just wanted to be a little bit more aggressive,” Harden said. “Just take advantage of the matchups and get the best shot available. Whether it was my shot, or getting to the basket or creating opportunities for teammates. And that’s what I’m really good at. So, I see an opportunity, I see a window, I just wanted to do the best thing and take advantage of it.”

The game was a nice homecoming for Brunson. He played numerous home games at the arena during his three years at Villanova. On Friday, it was as if he never stopped playing there. Brunson had a performance reminiscent of when he was 2018 Naismith Player of the Year for the Wildcats.

He scored the first seven points of the game, forcing Sixers coach Doc Rivers to call a timeout 1 minute, 56 seconds in.

Brunson opened the game with an 18-foot jumper, then followed that up with a 22-foot three-pointer. And Rivers called his timeout immediately after Brunson buried a 13-footer.

But the fourth-year veteran didn’t stop there.

Brunson went on to make his first seven shots en route to shooting 10-for-14.

The Mavs were without Reggie Bullock (personal reasons), Tim Hardaway Jr. (left foot surgery), and Theo Pinson (fractured right fifth finger).