Sixers

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

Maxey added 29 points with 17 coming in the fourth quarter. We couldn’t get stops the whole night. Unfortunately for the Sixers, this outing was reminiscent of their Jan. So I didn’t think we did a good job when we were rotating in the entire night. They became the first Dallas teammates to both score at least 40 points in the same game. They’re five games ahead of the third-place Sixers. “But that was tough with one wizards with the basketball in Luka. I thought we were just late the entire night.” Those are some of the best guys with the basketball in the whole league. You got to give them a lot of credit, too, because they made tough shots.” 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. Meanwhile, early on James Harden reminded everyone of his time as a prolific scorer before settling into the role of distributor.

DALLAS–The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to build off a very solid win over the Miami Heat in South Florida when they paid a visit to the Dallas Mavericks ...

One of the issues that made the star duo so dangerous was the fact that they went one-on-one throughout the night. Those are some of the best guys with the basketball in the whole league and they just picked us apart tonight and just being able to raise up and score. “It was tough with one wizard with the basketball in Luka and now they got two of them out there so it was a tough matchup.

The Sixers couldn't stop the Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving duo and dropped a high-scoring affair Thursday night in Dallas, falling to a 133-126 loss.

In the Sixers first matchup of the season against the Mavs, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were too much for them to handle.

“Those are some of the best guys with the basketball in the whole league, and they just picked us apart tonight. “That team was tough with one wizard with the basketball in Luka and now they got two of them out there. [Philadelphia 76ers](/nba/philadelphia-76ers)’ first matchup of the season against the [Dallas Mavericks](/nba/dallas-mavericks), [Luka Doncic](/nba/players/b74d0a0c/luka-doncic) and [Kyrie Irving](/nba/players/a5ba0900/kyrie-irving) were too much for them to handle.

they were treated to something that's never happened before in the 43-year history of the Dallas Mavericks. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving put on one of those ...

“Like I said the last time I was sitting up here (at the postgame press conference podium), I just had to join the party and just make sure my teammates were going to follow along,” Irving said. The Mavs stretched that lead to 131-115 with 3:09 remaining after a couple of free throws from Doncic and a triple from Irving. In the first half, both Doncic and Irving let the Sixers know what it was going to come down to and how serious they were about pulling the Mavs out of the doldrums. The Mavs are now 2-4 when Doncic – he also collected 12 assists — and Irving are in the lineup. If you watched them in the last Olympics, the first four games everyone was trying not to shoot, and then they kind of fell into place and figured it out. “I think just (Doncic and Irving) understand they’re leaders of the team,” Kidd said. “I just know when I’m out there I don’t want to lose the lead in a quick three-possession spurt, or they go on a 15-0 run or a 16-0 run. “I just think I was more ready and prepared for when he was going to pass me the ball. Doncic and Irving became the first pair of Mavs players to score at least 40 points in the same game. Doncic poured in 42 points and Irving added 40 as the Mavs built a 25-point lead in the third quarter and held on to upend the Philadelphia 76ers, 133-126. At the time, they knew pairing Irving with Doncic would lead to games where opponents would be bouncing off the balls trying to keep up with what has become the most feared backcourt in the NBA. This was the type of epic performance the Mavs anticipated when they acquired Irving in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets on Feb.