The streaking Sixers held their own against one of the hottest teams in the NBA on Wednesday night, and with only 3:20 left in the game, they trailed by only one point, 88-89. It was in the final minutes that the experience of Dallas roster really shined.
"Dre made two brilliant defensive plays in a row and we didn't capitalize on either one of them. After those two plays I could feel a little bit of the air go out. That's the importance of making the simple play. Under pressure, you must make the simple play, and we didn't," Collins said.
While Dre was stealing the D out of Dallas, Evan Turner couldn't convert on two straight plays at the other end, first getting stripped on a layup attempt and later throwing away a poorly conceived alley-oop attempt.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Despite the loss, Collins was proud of his club who hung in with the Mavs until the very end.
"We played toe-to-toe with a team that's playing as well as any team in the NBA right now," Doug Collins said proudly of his team's effort. "We were one possession away from taking the lead."
Much like their loss earlier in the season on this same court against the Lakers, the Mavericks simply had too many weapons. Dirk Nowitzki was Dirk Nowitzki, finishing the night with 22 points, but the real killer tonight was Jason Terry off the bench. The Sixers had no answer for Terry, who went off for 30.
"Pick your poison with those two," Elton Brand said after the game.
News
At one point, Collins decided to put the shutdown defense of Iguodala on Terry, but the Mavericks moved the ball well and found the open shots elsewhere.
"Their big game experience and their playoff experience just trumped our energy and effort tonight," Collins said.
Great effort, sloppy turnovers, missed free throws, and blown opportunities on the break.
That's sums up this Sixers squad these days when put up against a deep, hot, talented team with the likes of Dirk, Kidd, and Terry.
There are no moral victories any longer with Doug Collins' squad at this point in their development, but the young team is gaining valuable experience playing these kinds of games tight down to the final moments.