Sixers Keep Searching For First Win Against Dallas

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

The Sixers’ interminable search for their first win of the season continues Monday night against the surprisingly spry Dallas Mavericks. When Dallas lost the great emoji war of 2015 and DeAndre Jordan decided to return to the Clippers, many thought the team would tank the season and avoid coughing up their top-7 protected first round pick to Boston. Instead, Mark Cuban stuck to his guns and traded for even more mid-tier veterans like Deron Williams and Zaza Pachulia in an effort to make the playoffs once again.

So far, so good for Mr. Shark Tank. We are one-eighth into the season and the Mavericks currently sit at 6-4, tied for the third-best record in the Western Conference. Dirk Nowitzki continues to defy Father Time, in the midst of a throwback season averaging 17.8 points and 7.2 rebounds with an efficiency line of 52.6 FG% / 50.0 3PT% /  87.5 FT%.

To put how in perspective how rare it is for someone to put up a 50/50/90 line (which Dirk is very close to), Steve Kerr was the only player in NBA history to ever perform the feat (everyone on the court was paying attention to Michael Jordan at the time, but still, incredibly impressive). I’m very excited to see the matchup of raw athleticism and youth in Nerlens Noel go up against the crafty veteran in Nowitzki.

With no one on the Mavericks roster even averaging more than 30 minutes per game, it’s clear they value the egalitarian approach in relying on their second unit. DFS-darling Dwight Powell has emerged as a rare injection of youth for Dallas, averaging 10.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in just 21.7 minutes per game. He and Zaza are the only real threats on the offensive glass for the Mavericks.

Meanwhile, a host of “those guys are still around” come in and out of the lineup for Dallas, including Ray Felton, Devin Harris and J.J. Barea. One things all these veterans know how to do is take care of the basketball, as the Mavericks sport the 2nd-best turnover rate in the NBA on the season. With the Sixers the 4th-worst team at forcing opposing turnovers, I wouldn’t expect that trend to reverse on Monday night.

Dallas will come into the game well rested. They have been selectively sitting guys throughout the season, especially Wes Matthews and Chandler Parsons who are both coming back from major surgeries in the offseason. Those two and Dirk all sat out Saturday’s game so should be fully ready to go against the Sixers.

If Philadelphia is going to finally break through in the win column, they’ll need another big game from Jahlil Okafor. The Dallas front line isn’t exactly imposing in terms of rim protection; opponents are shooting 60.3% from less than 5 feet against the Mavericks, the 5th-highest rate in the league. With a string of reasonably winnable games coming up this week against Dallas, Indiana, and Charlotte, you have to think the Sixers will grab one of them. The eternal optimist in me thinks tonight is the night.