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It took an aging but still talented Dallas Mavericks team a little while to warm up, but once it happened the 76ers had no answers, especially when they had to shoot the ball.
Leading by 14 points at halftime and making the Mavericks look their age, the Sixers experienced a final 24 minutes of shooting futility during Friday's 82-75 loss to the Mavericks before 19,369 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki celebrates after draining a 3-pointer. (Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer)
In the second half the Sixers were outscored 45-24.
The Sixers (20-11) have now lost four of their last six games, and it was their third consecutive home loss.
Dallas (20-11) has won six in a row.
Dirk Nowitzki overcame a subpar first half with the type of second- half explosion we're accustomed to.
Nowitzki scored 24 of his game-high 28 points in the second half. For good measure he added 12 rebounds.
Rookie Nik Vucevic scored a career-high 16 points for the Sixers, while Thaddeus Young added 14, and Lou Williams scored 12.
Even the presence of Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard couldn't inspire the home team. Howard received a big ovation when shown on the jumbo screen.
The Sixers led 51-37 at halftime, and even by their standards they did an exemplary job of taking care of the ball.
Entering the game averaging a league-low 10.5 turnovers per game, the Sixers committed just one first-half turnover.
Dallas committed only seven, but that stood out in comparison to the Sixers.
The Mavs were short on guards, with Jason Terry and Rodrigue Beaubois (personal reasons), and Delonte West (broken finger) out.
What hurt the Mavs more than a shortage of guards was the play of Nowitzki, who will be making his 11th consecutive all-star appearance. He had just four first-half points and shot 2 for 11 from the field.
The Mavs' high scorer in the first half was guard Dominique Jones, who had seven points. Jones entered the game averaging just 1.9 points per game, but he was needed to play many minutes for Dallas' depleted backcourt.
The Sixers were trying to take advantage of their youth and outscored the Mavericks in fastbreak points 10-5 in the first two quarters. Neither team committed a turnover in the first quarter, which ended with the Sixers ahead, 27-21.
Dallas got back into the game in the third quarter, and not surprisingly, Nowitzki began heating up. He hit a three-pointer to give the Mavs a 54-53 lead with 5:06 left in the quarter. When Jones scored on a driving layup to increase the lead to 56-53, Dallas had completed a 19-2 run.
Vucevic ended the drought by hitting a jumper with 3:34 left in the quarter.
The Mavs used a 24-8 third-quarter advantage to take a 61-59 lead entering the fourth period. In the third quarter Nowitzki scored 12 points and hit 5 of 6 from the field, including both three-point attempts.
The Sixers hit just 4 of 20 from the field as the Mavs got back into the game.
Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at mnarducci@phillynews.com, 856-779-3225, or @sjnard on Twitter.
