The 76ers came up short against the Mavs, ending their four-game winning streak.
Jason Terry scored 30 points, Jason Kidd had a triple-double, and the Dallas Mavericks won their seventh straight game, 101-93 over the 76ers on Tuesday night.
"What you really saw tonight, to me, was their big game experience and their playoff experience just trumped our energy and effort tonight," said Sixers coach Doug Collins.
Dirk Nowitzki added 22 points for the Mavericks, who have won a whopping 17 of 18 games to move into second place in the Western Conference.
Terry was sensational off the bench. He used near-flawless shooting over the second and third quarters to give the Mavs the lead, then sealed the win late in the fourth with a dunk where he waved his arms in celebration.
Kidd had 13 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds and no turnovers.
The Sixers gave the Mavericks all they could handle as they tried to move two games above .500 for the first time this season. Jodie Meeks led the Sixers with 16 points.
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It wasn't all good news for Dallas, as center Tyson Chandler left late in the first half with a sprained right ankle.
Chandler grabbed his right ankle after he collapsed to the court trying to block a shot. He briefly stood and grabbed his knee before going back down. Chandler limped off the court and headed straight to the locker room.
He's averaging 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds this season.
The Sixers' surge in the standings over the last two months was highlighted by a home victory over the Spurs. Coach Doug Collins called this game a test for the playoffs because the Mavs were the type of talented team, like the Heat, the seventh-place Sixers could face in a first-round series.
They went the distance, but couldn't match Terry, Kidd and Co. and their four-game winning streak was snapped.
Marreese Speights, one of the most inconsistent Sixers, pulled them within a point with 3:56 left and the brink of an upset.
Terry, though, hit another jumper that made him 12 of 16 from the floor. He was open on the next possession, but dished to Kidd for a three and a 92-88 lead.
The Sixers showed the competitive drive that helped them make the rare turnaround from 10 games under .500 to a winning record when Meeks' three made it 92-91.
That was as close as they'd get. Meeks missed a driving baseline layup and Terry recovered for the breakaway dunk that sealed the win. He waved his arms in celebration, high-fiving teammates after the highlight-reel play.
The Sixers flopped in the waning moments from the free throw line and made only 14 of 24 overall.
Andre Iguodala scored 15 points and Jrue Holiday had 14 for the Sixers.
Shawn Marion had ten points and ten rebounds to help the Mavericks win the battle between two of the best benches in the league.
For a spell, the Sixers looked every bit as dangerous as they did last month in their 77-71 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, who have the best record in the NBA.
They refused to let the Mavericks take them out of the game with a serious run. When Terry went 5-for-5 for 11 points in the third, the Sixers scored their own big buckets to keep pace.
Nowitzki fumbled the ball and Iguodala pounced, bursting all the way for a one-handed jam that tied it 69-all. Speights' driving dunk off another Dallas turnover knotted the game at 77.
But there's a reason the Mavericks are a serious threat to win it all.
Led by Terry, they wore down the scrappy Sixers and had too much experienced talent in the fourth to let the Sixers take the lead.
“I told our guys I was incredibly proud of their effort. I thought we played hard and... those are the kind of teams that right now, you know we have a difficult time beating,” said Collins.
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