By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
If this were a car race, the Mavericks would have spent Monday making final adjustments to the carburetor and tweaking the engine parts to make sure they are legal.
Most importantly, they made sure they didn't lose the key to the ignition.
Dirk Nowitzki left Monday's 104-92 dusting of the Philadelphia 76ers early in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle. After X-rays were negative, Nowitzki returned in the fourth frame to snuff out a rally, much to the relief of the American Airlines Center crowd.
Mavericks/NBA
With Thursday's visit to San Antonio looming, the last thing they wanted to see was a gimpy Nowitzki.
As it turned out, the Mavericks were able to win their 15th consecutive home game by addressing some bugs that had wormed into their system the last few games. They put the drab starts of the previous two outings behind them by going ahead 10-0 and 22-6 before the Sixers broke a sweat.
They rebounded as well as they have in weeks, outboarding Philly 10-0 in the first six minutes and 45-28 overall.
And they overcame injuries. They were missing Josh Howard, Keith Van Horn and Devin Harris even before Nowitzki limped off the floor.
"It was a gutsy performance," coach Avery Johnson said. "Jason Terry was really special. He just made shots. And Marquis [Daniels] was as aggressive as I've seen him all year."
Terry finished with 24 points, hitting six of seven 3-pointers. Daniels, pressed into starting duty with Howard's injury, had 16 points and a season-best eight assists.
And Nowitzki was remarkable, nailing 11 of his 32 points and grabbing five of his 13 rebounds in the fourth quarter after he twisted his ankle when he stepped on Adrian Griffin's foot.
"In a game like this, you hope you correct all the things you need to correct," Darrell Armstrong said. "We did some good things, but we had some injuries. Dirk came back and showed great leadership. That's what your leaders do."
After falling behind by 20 in the second quarter, the Sixers got no closer than 98-92 with 1:48 to play on a Kyle Korver 3-pointer. But Erick Dampier dunked in a nice feed from Terry, and the Sixers missed their last three shots.
And so, the preliminaries have been dispatched. The Mavericks head to San Antonio with both teams rolling and the best record in the Western Conference to be decided over the last 26 games of the season, two of which will be in San Antonio.
The way the Mavericks have won six in a row since a loss at Denver has shown them and others that they are a force the Spurs will have to reckon with.
"This is what you want to take down to San Antonio," Armstrong said. "This team has shown so much character all season. And we're not done."
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Dallas Mavericks vs Philadelphia 76ers (27th February)
28-27, won 3 - 10-16 @ opponents
44-11, won 5 - 25-4 @ home
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