Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers speaks with Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center on February 25, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFP
Joel Embiid scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lift the host Philadelphia 76ers past the Dallas Mavericks 111-97 on Thursday.
Embiid shot 5 of 20 from the field but made 11 of 12 free throws.
Ben Simmons added 15 points and seven assists while Seth Curry contributed 15 points for the Sixers, who improved to 14-2 at home. Dwight Howard had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Shake Milton chipped in with 10 points.
𝙶𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙷𝙸𝙶𝙷𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝚂
Dallas Mavericks | 02.25.21
📼 presented by @PALottery pic.twitter.com/YtEyNzYidI
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 26, 2021
Luka Doncic led Dallas with 19 points. Josh Richardson added 13, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 12 and Jalen Brunson managed 11 for the Mavericks, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. Boban Marjanovic pulled down 12 rebounds.
Dallas big man Kristaps Porzingis sat out due to lower back tightness.
Simmons converted a three-point play with 4:19 left in the second quarter to give the Sixers a 43-35 lead. The Sixers kept attacking and extended their advantage to 52-35 after Embiid threw down a dunk to cap a 14-0 run.
The Mavericks struggled through the first half with 14 turnovers, five by Doncic, and trailed 59-43 at the break. Doncic missed his first three shots and was 3 of 9 by halftime.
Philadelphia missed its first seven shots of the third quarter but still led 69-56 midway through the period.
Dallas responded with back-to-back 3-pointers, and the deficit was just seven.
A late 11-2 spurt pushed the Sixers to an 86-68 lead at the end of the third. But the news wasn’t all good for the Sixers, who lost Tobias Harris for the rest of the game because of a right knee contusion. He managed six points in 22 minutes.
The Mavericks were unable to string together a run, and the Sixers pulled out to a 91-70 advantage with 9:51 to go in the fourth following a corner trey by Mike Scott.
With Doncic on the bench, the Sixers led 102-76 with 6:30 remaining. The 26-point advantage was more than enough of a cushion to propel Philadelphia to the win.