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The Philadelphia 76ers had their hands full on Wednesday night, welcoming Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks to the City of Brotherly Love. After a back-and-forth contest, the Sixers managed runs at the end of the third quarter to pull away from Dallas and secure a 116-108 victory.
Though Dallas is headed up by Doncic and Irving, the Mavericks have slumped since the All-Star Break. The Mavs are just 6-11 since the February festivities with the league’s 22nd-rated defense over that stretch.
Despite that, Irving and Doncic are perennial All-Stars, with the latter a regular MVP favorite. After the game, Doc Rivers praised the tandem, explaining how difficult it is to guard the offensive stars.
“We switched a lot of it (Doncic and Irving screens),” Rivers said, per the TJ Sports USA YouTube channel. “In the second half we switched and then we call ‘Omaha’ which is run and jump. Because it’s tough. We trap one, which I know they haven’t seen a lot. But we pre-rotated with the next guy, you know, we felt like making them pick the ball up. That was our whole thing in the second half, just make them pick the dang ball up and then rotate. It’s so much better than them exploring. I mean they’re both just so talented.
Rivers continued by championing Jalen McDaniels‘ defense on Irving.
“That’s where I thought Jalen’s defense in that stretch on Kyrie was huge for us, because we were covering one-on-one, we didn’t have to commit another guy to the ball. I thought that was a turning point for us.”
Joel Embiid Praised by Mavericks Coach in 76ers Win
While the Mavericks have an MVP candidate in Doncic, the Sixers have an MVP frontrunner in Joel Embiid.
And Embiid made Mavs big man JaVale McGee earn his keep on Wednesday, finishing with 25 points and nine rebounds in the winning effort.
“Yeah, I thought he (JaVale McGee) did a good job,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said, per the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “Unfortunately, Embiid is one of the best players in the world, so the three and then the midrange, you gotta make him put it on the floor, but it’s easier said than done and so I thought JaVale did a good job.”
Though an impressive stat line for any player, Embiid’s 25-point night was pedestrian by his own standards. Embiid is just over a week removed from a ten-game run in which he averaged 36.2 PPG and 9.5 RPG on 61.3% from the field.
Only four others — Kevin Durant, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan, and Karl Malone — have managed the same ten-game run. And in the years they did so, Durant, O’Neal, and Jordan were named league MVP.
Nuggets Coach Praises Tyrese Maxey in 76ers Loss
Kidd isn’t the only rival coach to praise members of the Sixers recently.
After the Sixers fell to the Denver Nuggets on Monday, head coach Michael Malone praised Tyrese Maxey, who erupted for 20 points in the game’s second quarter.
“Yeah, it was big,” Malone told reporters after the game, per the Nuggets’ official YouTube channel. “I mean he had 25 points in the first half. Only four in the second, and we knew without James and Joel playing that he and Tobias (Harris) especially would be really aggressive. And as you mentioned, I think he had 20 in the second quarter alone and that was my challenge to our guys. We gave up 39 points in that second quarter and I said, ‘how are they scoring?’ It was just one-on-one, everybody just taking turns going one-on-one and scoring way too easy.”
“He’s a hell of a young talent. He’s been playing at a very high level for them, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, he produces. But I thought second half our guys took the challenge of guarding him and doing a much better job.”
The Sixers will take on the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
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Doc Rivers Sounds Off on Kyrie Irving & Luka Doncic After 76ers Beat Mavericks