Mavericks break out of slump, Dirk passes 29,000 points

The basketball gods sent the Philadelphia 76ers jogging into the Dallas Mavericks’ life at just the right time.

Mired in a slump bridging both sides of the All-Star break, the Mavs broke out of that slump Sunday night in a big way.

Dirk Nowitzki became the sixth player in NBA history to score at least 29,000 points and the Mavs registered their largest margin of victory of the season with a 129-103 blowout win over the hapless Sixers at American Airlines Center.

Practically stepping on pins and needles after dropping five of six games entering Sunday’s matchup against the NBA’s worst team, the Mavs finally found someone that could help them solve their issues. The Sixers fell to 8-47.

“This is an important win for us — stopped the bleeding,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “It was a very tough first half, but in the second quarter we got some traction.”

In all, this was the most points the Mavs scored in a game this season, eclipsing the 119 points they scored on two occasions. And the 66 points the Mavs scored in the first half were the most they’ve scored in any half this season.

In addition, it was only the second time this season the Mavs have won by at least 20 points. The other time was that improbable 114-91 win over the world-champion Golden State Warriors, who were without the injured Stephen Curry for that game.

Sunday’s offensive firepower came during a time when the Mavs were playing the opener of a stretch where they’ll play nine out of 10 games at home. It’s a stretch in which the Mavs (30-27) hope to get their joy back and make some headway in the standings.

“It’s big and we know it,” Carlisle said of the homestand. “I don’t think there’s any reason to overstate it.”

Sunday’s win came compliments of a terrific shooting display by Wesley Matthews, who had just two 10-point-plus scoring games in the previous 10 games. Against the Sixers, Matthews scored 12 of his 21 points in the first half and finished with eight baskets in 12 attempts.

“I was just playing basketball,” Matthews said. “Tried not to get frustrated and tried not to force anything. Just playing within myself and my shot finally started coming around.”

The Mavs led 66-54 at intermission, then broke the game open when they took a 112-87 lead with 8:07 remaining in the game. Part of the reason for the huge separation was the defense Chandler Parsons played on rookie Jahlil Okafor.

In the first quarter, Okafor scored 18 points as the Sixers led 30-28. But with Parsons shadowing him, he only scored 13 points the remainder of the game, though he finished with a career-high 31 points.

“I thought Parsons played a very, very pivotal role in this game,” Carlisle said. “Defensively, we ended up putting him on Okafor, and his quickness and resourcefulness really turned the game.

“He was great on defense, he made plays on offense, and we got a lot of guys involved.”

That involvement included Nowitzki, who scored 18 points and joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to score at least 29,000 points in their career.

Nowitzki’s 29,000th point came when he made a 3-pointer that gave the Mavs a 71-59 lead at the 10:22 mark of the third quarter.

Of his 29,000-point milestone, Nowitzki said: “It means I’ve been around for a long, long time.”

All 13 Mavs players scored as Dallas won for the 17th time in its past 20 meetings with the Sixers. Now it’s on to Wednesday’s much-tougher matchup against Oklahoma City.

“We really needed this win and we’ve got a tough week,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got one of the best teams in the league coming here Wednesday, and we’ve got a lot going on.”

This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 10:40 PM with the headline "Mavericks break out of slump, Dirk passes 29,000 points."