76ers beat Mavericks by 42 points
PHILADELPHIA -- Justin Anderson matched his career high of 19 points against his former team on Friday night, as Philadelphia routed the Dallas Mavericks 116-74, the 76ers' most lopsided victory in nine years.
It was the third time in 11 games with Philadelphia that Anderson matched his career high. He was acquired in a Feb. 23 trade involving center/forward Nerlens Noel.
Noel, who spent two and a half seasons with the Sixers, had nine points and five rebounds off the bench for Dallas.
Robert Covington had 18 points and nine rebounds and Richaun Holmes added 17 points for the Sixers, whose 42-point margin of victory was their most lopsided win since a 112-69 defeat of Milwaukee on Jan. 30, 2008.
The Sixers, who won for the second time in three games, shot 52.5 percent from the floor, limited Dallas to 34.5-pecent shooting and placed seven players in double figures.
They took command by outscoring Dallas 44-16 over a 15-minute span beginning late in the second quarter, including 36-16 in the third. That gave them an 87-56 advantage, and they pushed that margin to as many as 43 in the final quarter.
Dwight Powell had 14 points to lead the Mavs, who lost for the third time in four games. J.J. Barea had 11, and Dirk Nowitzki contributed 10.
Dallas erased an early 21-11 deficit by reeling off 16 straight points, six of those by Berea, to move in front 27-21 early in the second quarter.
The Sixers regained the lead 31-29 on a basket by Holmes. Philadelphia, leading 43-40 later in the period, also ran off the last eight points of the half and the first seven of the second to go up 58-40.
Dallas missed 11 straight shots in that stretch and went 6:46 without a point. Nowitzki broke the string when he sank a jumper with 8:51 left in the third quarter, but Philadelphia continued to pour it on.
A spectacular follow dunk by Anderson with 5:09 remaining in the period gave the Sixers a 77-45 cushion.
Covington had 12 of his points in the quarter.
NOTES: Philadelphia C Joel Embiid, out for the season with a torn meniscus in his left knee, remained in California after the Sixers' just-completed road trip to consult with specialists. While coach Brett Brown dismissed that as a matter of the team "just doing all our homework," Calkins Media reported that Embiid is expected to undergo minor surgery. ... Sixers G Justin Anderson, who went from the Mavericks to Philadelphia in the trade involving C/F Nerlens Noel, called Dallas "a place that kind of raised me" and had high praise for the coaching of Rick Carlisle and the mentorship of F Dirk Nowitzki. ... Dallas G Wesley Matthews returned after missing Wednesday's victory in Washington with a strained right calf.