76ers at Mavericks
With the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs all but locked up, the Philadelphia 76ers prepare for another tune-up on the road as they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. The Sixers opened their three-game road trip with a 118-109 win at Minnesota on Saturday behind 25 points by Tobias Harris.
Jimmy Butler added 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals in his return to Minneapolis, focusing only on getting the win despite constant jeers from Timberwolves fans. "I'm glad we came in here and did what we were supposed to do to get a rhythm moving forward," Butler, who forced a trade from Minnesota earlier this season, told reporters. "Home, away, whoever it's against, I'm solid. I'm cool." The Mavericks capped a two-game road trip with a 106-103 win at Oklahoma City on Sunday. Trey Burke scored 25 points and handed out eight assists as Dallas finished the month of March with a 3-12 record.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, FS Southwest Plus (Dallas)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (49-27): Star center Joel Embiid is not expected to play against Dallas or Wednesday in Atlanta as part of a plan to get him more rest down the stretch. Rookie forward Jonah Bolden received a rare start in place of Embiid at Minnesota and finished with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting as Philadelphia moved 4 1/2 games ahead of fourth-place Boston with six to play. Ben Simmons fell one assist shy of his 11th triple-double of the season on Saturday and finished March with an average of 18.4 points while shooting 58.1 percent.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (30-46): Dallas registered just its eighth road win of the season on Sunday despite playing without star rookie Luka Doncic, who sat out with a right thigh contusion. "Our guys were fired up to play and we've really put together two good road games in a row," coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after his team won for just the fourth time in its last 21 overall contests. "Everybody played great. We ended up outrebounding them, which is really, really difficult. Our turnovers were manageable and we had some guys step up and have some big offensive nights." Burke was 10-for-18 from the floor and Dirk Nowitzki overcame a rough shooting effort by grabbing a season-high 13 rebounds.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Philadelphia has won four straight meetings with Dallas.
2. Nowitzki is averaging 14 points and eight rebounds over his team's last three wins.
3. Butler is 7-for-27 from the floor over the last two contests.