The big night from Sixers' rookie Jahlil Okafor was not enough to keep the game close with the Dallas Mavericks.
The Dallas Mavericks beat the Sixers 129-103 Sunday night. The Sixers have not won a game at the American Airlines Center since the 2005 season. They lead after the first quarter, but foul trouble made it difficult for the Sixers to sustain their early lead. This loss extends their current losing streak to four games.
Early foul trouble made Nerlens Noel go to the bench early in the first, but Jahlil Okafor more than made up for his absence. He set a career high with thirty one points on twelve of nineteen shooting. However, not many other players helped out offensively.
After outscoring the Mavs in the first quarter, they did not lead at the end of the quarter for the rest of the game. Dallas pulled away outscoring the Sixers in the second quarter thirty-eight to twenty-four. They were paced by Wesley Matthews, who scored twenty-one points, and got significant contributions from fellow starters Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons, and Daren Williams.
As mentioned previously, Okafor had thirty one points, and the Mavs did not have an answer for the first year player out of Duke. Weak defensive play in conjunction with a plethora of fouls did not allow the Sixers to keep pace in tonight’s game. The next leading scorer was Isiah Cannon. He scored fifteen points on six of twelve shooting, but some of his points came in the games fading minutes when the game was thoroughly out of reach.
They pulled relatively close in the third quarter by cracking the lead to single digits, but the Mavs adjusted and regained a sizeable lead that stuck. At one point in the third, Okafor and Noel had four fouls, and regulars Hollis Thompson, Isiah Cannon, and Robert Covington each had three fouls. This lead to the Mavs going to the line thirty-six times where they hit thirty-four of their shots.
There was history made in an otherwise mundane game; Dirk Nowitzki scored his 29,000th point. He moved into sixth all time surpassing Shaquille O’Neal.
The Sixers look to get their first win after the all-star break when they play the Orlando Magic at home on Tuesday at 7pm.
