Both the Philadelphia 76ers and host Dallas Mavericks come into their matinee matchup on Sunday on lengthy slumps.
Dallas dropped its seventh contest in the past eight games and ninth in its past 11, coming up on the wrong end of a 133-96 blowout at Houston on Friday.
The rout continued the injury-plagued Mavericks’ slide in the Western Conference. Dallas sits in 10th place, holding a 1.5-game lead over the Phoenix Suns for the last play-in spot and trailing Sacramento by a game for ninth place through Friday.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, ended Friday tied with the Brooklyn Nets in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers dropped their third straight with a 112-100 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday and fell to 3-17 over the past 20 games dating back to Jan. 31.
Injuries have hit Philadelphia’s roster hard. Most notably, the Sixers are without former Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, shut down for the season last month due to a knee injury; season-long team-leading scorer Tyrese Maxey (26.3 points per game), who last played March 3 but has a back injury; and former All-NBA selection Paul George, who has been out since March 4 with a groin injury.
The rash of absences has afforded other players opportunities to contribute, including guard Jeff Dowtin Jr. Playing on a two-way contract, Dowtin scored 17, 20 and 24 points over Philadelphia’s past three games.
“He got in a little bit of a numbers game here at the start of the season,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said of Dowtin. “We had Tyrese and Reggie (Jackson) and Kyle (Lowry) and him. It was kind of tough to give him many stints at all or any extended stints. Now he knows he’s got to a play a lot.”
Dowtin logged more than 40 minutes at point guard in Friday’s contest. Rookie center Adem Bona, playing 34 minutes on Friday, scored in double figures for the fourth straight game, posting 16 points.
Bona will look to continue that run against a Dallas team that has been thin in the interior in recent weeks. Big men Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford and Anthony Davis — the latter acquired in the trade for All-NBA guard Luka Doncic last month — have been sidelined for extended stretches with no clear timetables for return.
On Friday, Houston exploited the Mavericks’ lack of frontcourt depth to the tune of 68 points in the paint.
The injury bug also bit the Mavericks backcourt on Friday, with Dante Exum sustaining a broken hand.
Reserve Brandon Williams, playing on a two-way contract, made the most of his opportunity with 25 points and four rebounds.
“He was great. He was attacking, he was playmaking. I thought he used his speed in a positive way, getting in the paint and being able to finish,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said of Williams.
Kidd also praised forward Kessler Edwards, who did his part to address the team’s frontcourt issues with 12 points and six rebounds.
–Field Level Media
