Sixers come out on losing end of 133-126 shootout with Dallas Mavericks

The Sixers inserted Tyrese Maxey back into the starting lineup and while he scored points, they also paid the price defensively.

by Keith Pompey

Published March 2, 2023, 10:18 p.m. ET

DALLAS — It was “Turn Back the Clock Night” for the 76ers.

Tyrese Maxey was back in the starting lineup Thursday night at the American Airlines Center. Meanwhile, early on James Harden reminded everyone of his time as a prolific scorer before settling into the role of distributor.

But the familiar problems that arise when Maxey and Harden start together were also present against a Dallas Mavericks team that offers a very tough defensive assignment. While they battled hard, the Sixers’ inability to stop the Mavericks’ All-Star backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić was the difference in Dallas’ 133-126 victory.

“It was good being out there,” Maxey said of being back in the starting lineup. “I just wish we would have won, honestly. That’s really it.”

Thanks to a 15-0 run led by Maxey, the Sixers (40-22) closed the gap to four points, 110-106, with 9 minutes, 22 seconds remaining.

However, Irving responded with a three-point play. Then after the Sixers’ Paul Reed scored a basket, Irving, Dončić, and Reggie Bullock hit consecutive three-pointers to put the Mavs up 14 points. The Sixers made another run, pulling within five points late.

But then Irving hit pair of foul shots with 8.8 seconds left to give the Mavs the final 133-126 advantage.

Dončić and Irving torched the Sixers, combining for 82 points, and they also got their teammates involved on a night the Mavs shot 54.9% and made a team record 25 threes in 48 attempts. Bullock benefited from their presence, scoring 15 points while going 5 of 10 on threes.

“Two guys [darn] near had a 100 points on us,” Tobias Harris said. “But that was tough with one wizard with the basketball in Luka. Now they got two of them out there. So I mean, those are tough matchups. Those are some of the best guys with the basketball in the whole league.

“And they just picked us apart tonight just being able to get to their spots and raise up and score. You got to give them a lot of credit, too, because they made tough shots.”

Dončić had 42 points and 12 assists and Irving added 40 points, six assists, and four rebounds. They became the first Dallas teammates to both score at least 40 points in the same game.

“We never got them off the ball,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “When we did, they passed the ball, sprayed the ball out and made shots. So I didn’t think we did a good job when we were rotating in the entire night. I thought we were just late the entire night.”

Joel Embiid paced the Sixers with 35 points to go with seven rebounds. Maxey added 29 points with 17 coming in the fourth quarter.

Starting off with a hot hand, Harden made his first five shot attempts. Harden finished with 27 points on 8-for-12 shooting to go with 13 assists. The point guard secured a double-double in the second quarter with 19 points and 10 assists. He tallied 16 points and seven assists in the first quarter while going 4-for-4 from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line.

The loss dropped the Sixers to 40-22 heading into Saturday’s much-anticipated road game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

At 45-17, Milwaukee has the Eastern Conference and league’s best record. The Bucks are riding a 16-game winning streak. They’re five games ahead of the third-place Sixers.

Unfortunately for the Sixers, this outing was reminiscent of their Jan. 12 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which shot 51.2% against them. On that night, All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points on 10-for-16 shooting.

That night served as another example of Maxey and Harden struggling on defense. Their issues led to concerns about how long Rivers would stay with the pairing as starters alongside Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker, and Embiid.

“We just wanted a quick start,” Rivers said of going back to Maxey on Thursday. “We felt like playing last night, if we could get off to a quick start, it would be great. We did offensively. We just couldn’t get stops. We couldn’t get stops the whole night. And when they’re shooting like that, it’s amazing.”

Irving’s and Dončić's performances overshadowed the Sixers shooting 57.7% from the field.

But Rivers wouldn’t say if Maxey will remain in the starting lineup against the Bucks.

“We go game-by-game,” he said. “I’m not worried about that.”

Rivers added that the Sixers’ defensive shortcomings were unique to Thursday’s game, noting they made a lot of mistakes.