National Basketball Association
Philadelphia 112, Dallas 110
When: 8:30 PM ET, Saturday, October 28, 2017
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Officials: #63 Derek Richardson, #3 Nick Buchert, #8 Marc Davis
Attendance: 19567

DALLAS -- Rising stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons continue to put the league on notice as each scored 23 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-110 road win against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night at American Airlines Center.

Embiid, who said he would try to dunk on former teammate Nerlens Noel at every opportunity, hurt Dallas (1-6) with three 3-pointers, including a big one with under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter that gave the Sixers just enough breathing room to hold off a late Dallas rally.

Mavs guard Yogi Ferrell, with a chance to tie the game with a pair of free throws with 0.2 of a second to go, missed the front end. Dallas couldn't convert his intentionally missed second free throw as time expired, giving the Sixers (2-4) a second win three games.

"It was good," Simmons said of holding off the Mavs and getting the road win. "We made a lot of mistakes in the previous game, but we made up for them. We are getting better each game, so as long as we are getting better."

A buzzer-beater by Houston's Eric Gordon on Wednesday prevented them from a rare three-game win streak. It was still something of a milestone win for the young club, which hadn't won in Dallas since Jan. 29, 2005. It ended Dallas' 11-game home win streak against Philadelphia, which had been the Mavs' longest current home win streak against any team.

Embiid added nine rebounds and four assists to go with scoring and surprising outside shooting.

"He is just so excited to play again, but, I think a lot of the 3's came from Joel navigating off of post double teams," Sixers coach Brett Brown said.

His young sidekick Simmons, who worked around three early fouls, put up another stellar all-around stat line with eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals, impressing Mavs coach Rick Carlisle.

"Everybody knew he was going to be good," Carlisle said, "but he's way better than expected."

After the game, Embiid, who played 29 minutes, had X-rays taken of his right hand. Results came back negative.

Philadelphia Guard T.J. McConnell had a big game off the bench for Philadelphia with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, plus eight assists and four rebounds. Dario Saric added 12 points and Robert Covington had 11.

Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 25 points, including a pair of late 3-pointers, the latter coming with 29 seconds left to make it a two-point game in favor of Philadelphia, 109-107. But a beautiful Embiid spin move quickly made it a four-point game, just enough cushion for the Sixers to squeak out the win.

Wesley Matthews added 19 points for Dallas, which dropped to 1-4 on their home floor. Ferrell finished with 17 points, but will remember the two he couldn't convert with the game on the line.

"It felt good, just strong back rim," Ferrell said of his first miss. "I wanted to shoot those free throws. I felt like I could have made them. I just didn't."

Guard J.J. Barea had 15 points and rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. scored 12 with eight assists, but he also had six turnovers. Noel, traded to the Mavs by the Sixers last season, had just four points and four rebounds in 20 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki finished with 11 points.

NOTES: Sixers G J.J. Redick missed Saturday's game due to lower back stiffness he began to experience at the start of Friday's practice. G Dario Saric got the start. ... C Jahlil Okafor will continue to be out of the rotation, according to coach Brett Brown. ... Mavericks G Devin Harris returned to action after missing Thursday's game at Memphis. Harris is dealing with the death of his older brother following a car crash. ... F Dorian Finney-Smith is battling tendinitis in his knee, coach Rick Carlisle said, giving F Maxi Kleber minutes in recent games.
Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   Dallas
Joel Embiid 23 Scoring Harrison Barnes 25
T.J. McConnell 8 Assists Dennis Smith Jr. 8
Joel Embiid 9 Rebounds Devin Harris 6
Joel Embiid 4 Free Throws Made Wesley Matthews 6
Ben Simmons 3 Steals Wesley Matthews 3
Ben Simmons 1 Blocks Dirk Nowitzki 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Philadelphia 112 49.4 16-35 10-14 25 42 1 10 14
Dallas 110 51.4 19-40 15-19 22 33 2 7 18
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game on the road against Utah. The Mavericks have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .167 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Houston. The 76ers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .500 after a loss.