Philly does number on Mavericks
Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown acknowledged that after he told his players and the media before the season began that the goal was to make the playoffs, it “wasn’t well received” by many in the cautious front office.
Turns out, Brown had the pulse of The Process. Not only are the Sixers headed to the postseason, they’re poised to make some noise.
JJ Redick scored 18 points, and the surging 76ers matched a franchise record with their 14th consecutive victory, 10997 over the visiting Dallas Mavericks yesterday.
Ben Simmons added 16 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, and Robert Covington had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Two years after going 10-72, the Sixers (50-30) clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and secured their first 50-win season since Allen Iverson’s 2000-01 team, which lost in the Finals.
“In our profession, Brett has become a legend,” said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, whose team has begun its own rebuild. “He’s just been unshakable as a leader and as a guy that’s always pushed his teams to always play at their highest capacity in terms of energy and effort.
“And as this thing has gone along, in the fourth or fifth year, they’ve built up the guys that they like and they’ve gotten rid of a lot of other guys that weren’t quite good enough. They’ve added a few veterans and they’ve done a great job with the draft.”
Raptors 112, Magic 101 — C.J. Miles scored 22 points, OG Anunoby had a career-high 21 and host Toronto beat Orlando.
Serge Ibaka scored 13 points, and Jakob Poeltl and Delon Wright each had 12. The Raptors closed out their home schedule by extending their franchise records for wins (58) and home wins (34).
After clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference on Friday night with a win over Indiana, the Raptors gave guard DeMar DeRozan and center Jonas Valanciunas the night off. Toronto will rest players again tonight at Detroit, then return to full strength Wednesday night for the regular-season finale at Miami.
Pacers 123, Hornets 117 — Domantas Sabonis scored a career-high 30 points, Victor Oladipo had 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting and Indiana beat host Charlotte to keep alive its slim hopes of winning the Central Division title.
Lance Stephenson, a former Hornet, had 10 rebounds, 10 assists and eight points for the Pacers, who have won seven of their last nine games.
Jazz 112, Lakers 97 — Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points to help visiting Utah clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Utah is the fourth team in the crowded Western Conference to lock up a postseason spot, with five teams still in the running for the other four positions before the regular season ends Wednesday.
Mitchell also had nine rebounds and eight assists, and Joe Ingles had 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting along with 10 assists. Jae Crowder added 18 points off the bench.
Grizzlies 130, Pistons 117 — MarShon Brooks scored 25 points, Dillon Brooks added 22 and host Memphis snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over Detroit.