PHILADELPHIA — Danny Green is proud of the position the 76ers are in.
The small forward thinks the team fought through COVID-19 related issues, scheduling issues, and all types of injuries during the first half of the season.
“You know guys have to come play every day,” he said. “So I’m proud of that.
“But we can grow in many areas. For us, the sky is the limit.”
Thursday night’s 111-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks marked their fourth win in their last five games. It also kept the Sixers (22-11) in first place in the Eastern Conference. They entered the night a half-game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets, who were hosting the Orlando Magic Thursday.
The Mavs, however, dropped to 15-16 and had their two-game winning streak snapped. Dallas was without standout post player Kristaps Porzingas, who missed the game with lower-back tightness.
This matchup features two of the league’s elite ballhandlers, Ben Simmons and the Mavs’ Luka Doncic.
Simmons was named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve for the third consecutive season on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Doncic, a third-year player, was voted an Western Conference All-Star started for his second straight season.
Despite their size, the two are triple-double machines.
The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Simmons has 31 career triple-double with three coming this season. Meanwhile, the 6-7, 230-pound Doncic, has seven this season and 32 for his career.
“I love him,” Doc Rivers said of Doncic. “I said three years ago. I jokingly said I had a man crush on him. I love how he plays. I love the joy that he plays with. He’s another guy, [LaMelo] Ball in Charlotte.
“There’s a group of guys now, and I love seeing it. They are not only great players, but they bring joy to the game as well. I’ve always thought that was a good thing for all of us.”
But he didn’t display a lot of joy of this night with Simmons guarding him.
Doncic finished with 19 points, making 6 of 13 shots while being mostly guarded by Simmons. He was a minus-23 in the first half.
Meanwhile, Simmons finished with 15 points, seven assists, two steals and one block. Joel Embiid had 23 points and nine rebounds.
Seth Curry had 15 points in his first matchup against his former team. The Sixers acquired him from the Mavs on Nov. 18. in exchange for Josh Richardson and the 36th overall pick in the 2020 draft. Dallas used that pick to select Tyler Bey.
Tobias Harris had five points on 2-for-7 shooting before leaving the game for good in the third quarter with a right-knee bruise. Reserves Shake Milton (10 points), Mike Scott (six), Dwight Howard (14) and Furkan Korkmaz (nine) also contributed to the Sixers' balanced-scoring attack.
Richardson had 13 points and six rebounds against his former team.
The Sixers and Mavs have been two of the team hit the hardest by COVID-19 in regards to game in the first half of the season.
Curry and Vincent Poirier were both sidelined after contacting the coronavirus. Harris, Milton and Matisse Thybulle missed time due to contract tracing.
Then the Sixers had to play against the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 9 with just seven healthy players and nine two days later versus the Atlanta Hawks. They their Jan. 17 road game at the Oklahoma City Thunder postponed 1 1/2 hours before tip-off.
Meanwhile, the Mavs also had several players sidelined with COVID-19 and contact tracing. Dallas had three games postponed due to the coronavirus.
Several games league-wide were canceled due to the health and safety protocols. But for the most part, the Sixers and Mavs played with undermanned rosters while dealing with player absences.
“Well, I think we were unfortunately the teachers,” Rivers said. “You know that you should probably cancel games, you know. It affected us, obviously and it affected the Mavs. You can’t get it back now.”
“There’s two games that I look back on that we just shouldn’t had played but we had too, probably three in the stretch.”
But Rivers acknowledged the health and safety protocols are new for everyone. He also pointed out the NBA is making adjustments and learning as the season goes along.
“And overall,” he said, “It’s been pretty good.”
