DALLAS–On Thursday night at the American Airlines Center, the Philadelphia 76ers had a tough night on the defensive end in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Philadelphia shot the ball well at 57.7%, but they could not stop the Mavericks as they allowed Dallas to shoot 25-for-48 from deep.
The Mavs were able to get some explosive games out of their star duo, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, as they both scored 40+ points. Doncic had 42 while Irving had 40 as they both relentlessly attacked Philadelphia’s defense with ease. There wasn’t much the Sixers could do to stop them.
That’s something that will have to be rectified as they move forward.
“I think just being on the same page and knowing what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Jams Harden. “From the beginning of the game, they got going too early to where it’s difficult. We make the game difficult at the beginning of the game for those two, it might be a different result, but they got it going, they got comfortable, they got confident, and once those two get confident, it’s history.”
Then, when the Sixers did adjust and try to pressure the ball a bit against the two superstars, they then picked them apart and found open shooters. Dallas was essentially able to get anything they wanted because they were able to get into the paint from the perimeter.
“We gotta be more solid on the ball,” added Tobias Harris. “It’s easier said than done when you got those type of dynamic scorers, but we do have to understand that teams that get that many looks up at 3s, they shot it at a really high rate, but we do gotta get those shooters off the line and put guys in different positions in order to make different plays.”
It could just be that the Sixers were on the second night of a back-to-back, but this isn’t the first time that they have had perimeter players light them up like this. CJ McCollum of the New Orleans Pelicans comes to mind as does Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.
As they prepare for the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, they have got to be locked in on that department in order to get back in the win column.
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Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire