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Mavericks-76ers Preview

Jan 21, 2010 - 9:33 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Dallas (28-14) at Philadelphia (13-28), 7:00 p.m. EDT

The Dallas Mavericks excel at winning close games. That's something the Philadelphia 76ers found out earlier this season.

The Mavericks will look to complete a second straight sweep of the 76ers on Friday night when they meet in Philadelphia.

Dallas (28-14) improved to 7-0 in games decided by one or two points with Wednesday's 94-93 win at Washington. Shawn Marion blocked Caron Butler's shot with 1.9 seconds left to preserve the Mavericks' third win in four games.

"Winning on a defensive possession, you wouldn't say that in the past about the Mavericks," guard Jason Kidd said. "It would be us trying to get a basket on the other end. This year, we've really focused on playing defense."

Dallas' streak of victories in one-point games is nine, tied for second- longest in NBA history. The Mavericks haven't lost a one-point game since January 2007, and they're one away from the record set by the St. Louis Hawks in 1959-60.

"When it comes to that situation, it's second nature to us," guard Jason Terry said. "We don't tense up."

Terry didn't tense up Nov. 30, when he made a 17-footer with 1.4 seconds left to lift Dallas to a 104-102 home victory over Philadelphia (13-28). The Mavericks blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter as the 76ers tied it on Andre Iguodala's 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds to go.

The 76ers, meanwhile, are having trouble closing out games. They have lost three of four - all in which they led in the fourth quarter.

"We are a little snake-bitten right now," guard Allen Iverson said. "We are having a lot of bad things (happen) towards the end of games. A stop here or there and we would be right there. We can't seem to get over the hump."

Iguodala scored 23 points in Wednesday's 98-90 home loss to Portland. No other Sixer had more than 13 as Iverson made 3 of 9 shots for nine points to end his streak of five straight games in double figures.

"Allen is here to make a difference," coach Eddie Jordan said. "We are looking for him to a make a play and he didn't necessarily have it tonight."

Philadelphia owns the fifth-worst defense in the NBA, holding opponents to 47.3 percent shooting. The Sixers, though, are doing a better job the last six games in limiting teams to 43.1 percent.

"The main thing is we need to buckle down and play defense," Iguodala said. "When we get stops, we get easy baskets."

Philadelphia may have trouble stopping Dirk Nowitzki, who is averaging 29.2 points on 56.3 percent shooting over the last five games.

Dallas swingman Josh Howard missed Wednesday's game with a stomach illness, and his status is not known for Friday.

The Mavs have won three straight and seven of their last eight against the Sixers.