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New-look Sixers play host to Mavericks

Feb 21, 2014 - 3:06 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia 76ers have dropped nine straight, but they were active on trade deadline day and it's time to see if there will be any improvement when they host the Dallas Mavericks Friday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The biggest move of the deadline saw the Sixers ship Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Danny Granger, a former All-Star turned role player, and a 2015 second-round pick.

The Sixers traded center Spencer Hawes to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday and, combined with a small deal involving the Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets, acquired Earl Clark, Harry Sims, Eric Maynor and four second-round picks. They also picked up big man Byron Mullens and a second-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers for a future second-rounder.

(The Sixers reportedly waived Clark already to keep the roster at 15.)

While trading some of their best players may pay dividends in the future, it won't help combating this current slide. The Sixers haven't won since Jan. 29 and are 0-8 in February, their longest skid since the 2009-10 campaign.

Philly has dropped eight in a row in the Wells Fargo Center, something that hasn't happened in one season since 1996-97. That was the venue for the Sixers' most recent setback, a 114-85 drubbing Tuesday night by the Cavs.

Thaddeus Young and Michael-Carter Williams led Philadelphia with 15 points apiece.

"I think that when you're losing games and at this stage of the year, there is a beat down effect that we're trying to avoid," Sixers coach Brett Brown said.

The Mavs were barely even mentioned in trade rumors leading up to Thursday's deadline. They were still trying to figure out what happened to them on Tuesday when LeBron James torched them for 42 en route to a 117-106 win for the Miami Heat.

The Mavs, who had won six of seven heading into the All-Star break, committed 16 turnovers and watched the Heat shoot 57.1 percent from the floor, negating their huge 50-28 rebounding advantage.

Dirk Nowitzki filled the box score with 22 points, nine boards and seven assists in defeat.

Vince Carter added 15 points for Dallas, as his four-point play with 7:47 remaining put the hosts ahead 95-92.

From there, the Mavs went over six minutes without a making field goal, missing nine consecutive shots and turning the ball over three times during the drought.

"It was a game of runs, and they were able to get the last run and get the win," Mavs forward Shawn Marion said.

The Mavericks beat the Sixers in Dallas on Nov. 18 and now, they've taken eight of the last 10 matchups. The teams have split the last six meetings in Philadelphia.