Notebook: Mavericks 82, Sixers 75

By Andy Jasner, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, leading the Dallas Mavericks past the Philadelphia 76ers 82-75 Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Dominique Jones scored 12 points and Vince Carter had 10 points as the Mavericks (20-11) pulled away for their sixth straight win.

Nikola Vucevic scored a career-high 16 points while Thaddeus Young scored 14 and Lou Williams 12 for the Sixers, who lost their season-high third in a row at home. The Sixers fell to 20-11.

QUOTABLE: "The story of the game was defense."
-- Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, on holding the Sixers to 34-percent shooting overall and 24 points in the second half.

THE STAT: Nowitzki scored 24 points in the second half. The Sixers managed just 24 points total in the second half. It's easy to see how the Mavericks were able to win.

TURNING POINT: The Sixers went ice cold after a 51-point first half and shot 9-for-42 in the second half It allowed the Mavericks to slowly climb back into the game and eventually pull away.

HOT: Nowitzki scored 24 of his 28 points in the second half and carried the Mavericks when they needed it most.

NOT: The Sixers' starting guards -- Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks -- combined to shoot 0-for-12. Holiday missed all nine shots and Meeks was 0-for-3.

QUOTABLE II: "Just keep giving the ball to Dirk and he's going to make something happen."
-- Jones.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd was terrific with nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Kidd nearly picked up his first triple-double this season. He has 107 in his illustrious career.

INSIDE THE ARENA: There was a boisterous crowd of 19,369 for the Mavericks-76ers game Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The fans were buzzing throughout, even during a second-half drought by the Sixers. Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard attended the game and received a rousing standing ovation. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Sixers owner Josh Harris each were in attendance.

QUOTABLE III: "We just didn't make shots. We had some decent looks. The ball just didn't go in for us."
-- Andre Iguodala.

GOOD MOVE: The Mavericks went to Nowitzki more often in the second half. The veteran forward took over the game with an array of offensive moves.

BAD MOVE: The Sixers' offense stalled far too often in the halfcourt, especially in crunch time. They couldn't get anything going in the open court and then struggled to get clean looks in any sets.

ROOKIE WATCH: The Mavericks feature no rookies on their roster. In fact, they have eight players with 10 or more years of experience. For the Sixers, forward Lavoy Allen started and finished with eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Vucevic added a career-best 16 points to go along with seven rebounds. Vucevic was 7-for-8 from the field.

NOTABLE: Nowitzki needed one blocked shot to reach 1,000 for his career going into the contest, and he still needs one. Nowitzki, who has made 1,214 3-pointers in his career, is on his way to becoming one of only three players in NBA history with at least 1,000 3-pointers and 1,000 blocked shots, joining Clifford Robinson and Rasheed Wallace. ... The Mavericks played without guards Rodrigue Beaubois and Jason Terry (personal reasons) and guard Delonte West (right ring finger fracture). ... Sixers center Spencer Hawes was out for the 17th time this season with a strained left Achilles. Hawes has been placed in a walking boot and he will wear it for at least two more weeks. Hawes will also get a second opinion during the All-Star break. ... The Sixers scored just eight points in the third quarter, their lowest output in any quarter this season. The same goes for the 24 points in the second half, which is also a low mark since the Wells Fargo Center opened in 1996. ... The Sixers missed 13 of their 14 3-pointers. ... Dallas has won 10 of the last 12 meetings with the Sixers, including three straight.

NEXT: For the Mavericks, Sunday @ New York, Monday vs. Boston, Wednesday vs. L.A. Lakers. For the Sixers, Sunday @ Minnesota, Tuesday @ Memphis, Wednesday @ Houston.

• With the loss tonight, the Sixers have dropped two straight and four of their past six after winning six of the previous seven. Philly has also lost three in a row at home for the first time since dropping the final five home games in 2009-10. It is just the second time this season that the Sixers have lost consecutive games. Dallas has won six in a row after dropping three straight to start the month. The Mavericks have won 10 of the past 12 meetings over the Sixers, including three straight.
• The Sixers had 51 first-half points but scored 24 in the second-half, their lowest total in building history. Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 of his 28 points in the second half, equaling the entire output by Philly. The last time a player has as many or more points in a half as the opposing team was Dwyane Wade (29 points) in the second half vs. Washington (27 points) on 11/10/09. The Sixers drop to 9-2 when scoring 50+ points in the first half. Philly led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter. The Sixers are now 19-4 in games in which they’ve led by double-digits this season. Philly trailed by two points entering the fourth quarter. The Sixers are 1-9 when trailing after three quarters of play this season. The Mavericks improve to 18-1 when leading at the start of the fourth.
• Philly had 75 points tonight. It is the fourth time over the past 11 games that the Sixers have scored below 80 and the fifth time overall this season (1-4 mark). The Sixers have scored below 100 points in each of the past 14 games. That’s Philly’s longest streak of scoring under the century mark since a 15-game span from 12/3-12/31/06.
• The Sixers shot 33.7% from the floor tonight, their lowest percentage since shooting 32.6% vs. Denver on 2/18/09. It is just the fourth time Philly has shot below 40.0% this season (1-3 mark). The Sixers are 3-8 when shooting a lower percentage than their opponent this season.
• Jrue Holiday had 3 points tonight on 0-of-9 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 shooting from the line. The last time a Sixer had at least 9 FGA without a make was Willie Green (0-9 FGs) at Miami on 2/21/09. Holiday has scored below 10 points in five of the past 11 games after scoring in double-figures in each of the previous 14 games from 1/7-1/28, which tied for the longest streak of his career.
• Rookie Nik Vucevic had a team-high 16 points to go along with 7 rebounds in just 19 minutes off the bench. He has scored 10+ points in three of the past four games and six times overall this season.
• Rookie Lavoy Allen made his sixth start and had 8 points with a career-high 10 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.