Sixers lose in a 20-point rout to Dallas

DALLAS — The 76ers are far from healthy and far from playing at a high level heading into the postseason.

That was evident in Monday’s 122-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. The Eastern Conference’s third-place Sixers were without two regular starters in Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid.

For the Sixers (49-28), this wasn’t just an April Fools’ Day loss to the Mavs (31-46). It was another shaky performance by a team expected to play at a high level at this stage of the season. The Sixers have five regular-season games remaining to try to turn things around.

“Honestly, two starters down, but it was a game that we should have brought more fight to, especially on the defensive end,” Tobias Harris, one of the healthy starters, said. “When they had their big punch at the end of the second quarter, we didn’t punch back.”

The Mavs broke the game open with 28-8 run to end the half, giving them a 68-50 lead. Dallas went on to lead by as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter.

The matchup capped a mostly unimpressive five-game stretch for the Sixers.

They had consecutive bad road losses to the Atlanta Hawks (March 23) and Orlando Magic (March 25). Then a Herculean effort by Embiid lifted them over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday. On Saturday, they needed a late run to hold off the Timberwolves in Minnesota.

Including Dallas, none of the Sixers’ last five opponents have a winning record.

The only difference is Monday night they were without two starters. But all five starters played against the Hawks and Nets.

On Friday, Embiid missed his second of at least three straight games because of load management for tendinitis in his left knee. And Butler is sidelined with back tightness and is listed as day-to-day.

James Ennis started in place of Butler. Jonah Bolden got his second consecutive start at center in Embiid’s absence, joining starters Ben Simmons, JJ Redick and Harris.

Redick finished with a game-high 26 points. Harris added 25 points, six rebounds and three assists. Simmons had 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Reserve point guard added T.J. McConnell had 15 points, mostly after the game had already been decided and the starters had been pulled.

The Sixers, however, didn’t get much out of the rest of the team.

Bolden had just two points one game after scoring a career-high 19.

Justin Jackson paced the Mavs with 24 points. Rookie point guard Jalen Brunson, a Villanova product, had 13 points and seven assists.

Like the Sixers, the Mavs were without two starters. Luka Doncic, the rookie-of-the-year front-runner, is out with a right thigh contusion. Tim Hardaway Jr. missed the game with a left tibia stress reaction.

But the game wasn’t the only story involving the Mavs.

Reports surfaced this past weekend that the New York Police Department was investigating allegations that Kristaps Porzingis raped a woman in his Midtown Manhattan penthouse in February 2018 while a member of the New York Knicks. Dallas acquired him a trade on Jan. 31.

Porzingis’ attorney said the allegations are false and that the power forward is the victim of an extortion plot.

The sidelined standout was on the bench with teammates during Monday’s game.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban could not speak about the allegations due to the ongoing investigation. He told the media that federal authorities told the team not to comment.

“Like I said, I have nothing to say,” Cuban said. “N-O-T-H-I-N-G.”

But the owner didn’t completely remain silent.

“I will say this. Some people need to do their homework and use some common sense,” Cuban said, "because a little bit of common sense is so enlightening. But other than that, I can’t say anything.”

Common sense in reference to what?

“Just general things,” Cuban said. “Topics. It’s so enlightening.”

Back to the game. Harris and Redick kept the Sixers afloat early on.

The duo combined to score 21 of the team’s 32 first-quarter points.

Redick had 12 of those points on 4-for-5 shooting. He made all three of his three-pointers. Harris had nine points on 4-for-6 shooting.

However, the Sixers suffered from the unable-to-make-a-basket blues in the second quarter. Redick’s three-point play gave them a 42-40 lead with 8 minutes, 22 seconds before intermission. That was Philly’s last made field goal of the half.

The Mavericks concluded the half on a 28-8 run to their 18-point halftime lead thanks to the Sixers missing their final 14 shots.

“We got the looks,” Harris said. "They just weren’t falling. We would have got better looks if we had gotten out in transition.

“You can’t get in transition if you don’t get stops, and that is on all of us, including myself.”

Bolden and Ennis didn’t exactly makes folks forget about Butler and Embiid. The two fill-in starters were combined 0-for-5 shooting in the first half, 2-for-12 for the game, each missing five of their six shots.

As a team, the Sixers shot 38.7 percent from the field. They only made 6 of 33 three-pointers.

The Mavs shot 46.9 percent from the field and made 12 of 33 three-pointers.