76ers-Mavericks preview7:30 p.m. today, American Airlines Center, Ch. 21; ESPN-FN 103.3, KFLC-AM 1270 (Spanish)10:34 PM CST on Sunday, February 26, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning NewsSeries: Sixers lead 1-0 this season, 30-19 all-timeKey matchupAllen Iverson vs. Jason Terry: Eastern Conference players make only one trip to Dallas each season, and Iverson is one of those who is worth the price of admission. Last season, Iverson sat out the game at AAC, but the Sixers still won, the fifth win in their last seven trips to Dallas. Iverson is second in the league in scoring at more than 33 points per game. Terry will get plenty of help trying to harness Iverson, something almost no one can do.Inside the SixersMore on Iverson: Allen Iverson has seven 40-point games this season, the last of which came Feb. 15 in a win over the Spurs. He might be due. And the way the Mavericks have had trouble stopping guards lately, anything is possible. Iverson's 70 career 40-point games rank fifth on the all-time list.Briefly: They have won three in a row since the All-Star break to nose above .500 at 28-27. ... Forward Chris Webber (flu) and center Samuel Dalembert (left ankle) both missed Saturday's win over Chicago but are expected back tonight. ... Kyle Korver is one of the league's most dangers 3-point shooters. Containing him off the bench will be crucial.Inside the MavericksOne of those games: Saturday's 115-113 overtime win against Toronto was the sort of game that even good defensive teams have, Avery Johnson said. "I told our team that if and when our defense improves, you're still going to have nights like that. They scored over 100 points, but we still won with defense. Really good defensive teams can win it with defense in the last five minutes."Briefly: They need one win for their 10th win in February, which would be their sixth consecutive month with 10 or more wins. ... Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points in each of the last two games after going 15 consecutive games without scoring 30.PROBABLE STARTERSSixers Pos. MavericksChris Webber F Dirk NowitzkiAndre Iguodala F Josh HowardSteven Hunter C DeSagana DiopKevin Ollie G Adrian GriffinAllen Iverson G Jason Terryhttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ew.7b9399d.html
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Steven Hunter does not play for the Sixers anymore. He got traded weeks ago, I think?</div>Tsk, Tsk my misinformed friend, Hunter's trade to the Hornets was rescinded and therefore still on the Sixers for the past few weeks.
Should be an easy win for the mavs though the sixers have had some luck beat the mavs once this year and once last year. Prediction: Mavs win 110-95.
Congrats man, you guys are doing great. Hopefully you lose a couple more so the Spurs can catch up though. Suns blew out Houston again. :rock: Won 10 of last 11 and Marion has been amazing. :focus:
Jason Terry was awesome tonight. 24points 7 assist and 2 steals on 9-14 FG and 6-7 from 3 PT. Dallas got like 15 point in like the first 2 minutes of the game. Wow.
Marquis Daniels was awesome as well. He got 12 points and like 8 assist as the starter for Dallas. If Josh Howard could learn to pass like that Dallas would be unbelievable. Daniels as a starter plays so much better than coming off the bench. Here's the game summary. Mavs complete fab Feb., 104-9212:24 AM CST on Tuesday, February 28, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning NewsIf this were a car race, the Mavericks would have spent Monday making final adjustments to the carburetor and tweaking the engine parts to make sure they are legal.Most importantly, they made sure they didn't lose the key to the ignition.Dirk Nowitzki left Monday's 104-92 dusting of the Philadelphia 76ers early in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle. After X-rays were negative, Nowitzki returned in the fourth frame to snuff out a rally, much to the relief of the American Airlines Center crowd.With Thursday's visit to San Antonio looming, the last thing they wanted to see was a gimpy Nowitzki.As it turned out, the Mavericks were able to win their 15th consecutive home game by addressing some bugs that had wormed into their system the last few games. They put the drab starts of the previous two outings behind them by going ahead 10-0 and 22-6 before the Sixers broke a sweat.They rebounded as well as they have in weeks, outboarding Philly 10-0 in the first six minutes and 45-28 overall.And they overcame injuries. They were missing Josh Howard, Keith Van Horn and Devin Harris even before Nowitzki limped off the floor."It was a gutsy performance," coach Avery Johnson said. "Jason Terry was really special. He just made shots. And Marquis [Daniels] was as aggressive as I've seen him all year."Terry finished with 24 points, hitting six of seven 3-pointers. Daniels, pressed into starting duty with Howard's injury, had 16 points and a season-best eight assists.And Nowitzki was remarkable, nailing 11 of his 32 points and grabbing five of his 13 rebounds in the fourth quarter after he twisted his ankle when he stepped on Adrian Griffin's foot."In a game like this, you hope you correct all the things you need to correct," Darrell Armstrong said. "We did some good things, but we had some injuries. Dirk came back and showed great leadership. That's what your leaders do."After falling behind by 20 in the second quarter, the Sixers got no closer than 98-92 with 1:48 to play on a Kyle Korver 3-pointer. But Erick Dampier dunked in a nice feed from Terry, and the Sixers missed their last three shots.And so, the preliminaries have been dispatched. The Mavericks head to San Antonio with both teams rolling and the best record in the Western Conference to be decided over the last 26 games of the season, two of which will be in San Antonio.The way the Mavericks have won six in a row since a loss at Denver has shown them and others that they are a force the Spurs will have to reckon with."This is what you want to take down to San Antonio," Armstrong said. "This team has shown so much character all season. And we're not done."E-mail esefko@dallasnews.com[url="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/022806dnspomavslede.d4adf53.html"]http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...de.d4adf53.html[/url][/QUOTE}
