By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Dallas Mavericks for their first game of 2026. Both teams traded blows in this game but thanks to a second quarter scoring explosion Philly was able to beat Dallas 123-108 and extend their win streak to two games.

The Mavericks were able to use their explosive athleticism to jump out to an early lead over the Sixers. Cooper Flagg (12 points) could not miss and that opened multiple high-percentage scoring opportunities for his teammates. Philly made the adjustment and sent multiple defenders at him to slow him down which gave them an opportunity to keep this game close.

Despite Flagg’s early dominance, the Sixers were able to comeback in the second quarter and take the lead. Thanks to Tyrese Maxey (34 points, and had 10 assists in this contest), VJ Edgecombe (23 points), Joel Embiid (22 points and had 6 assists), and Paul George (14 points) who combined for 93 of Philly’s 123 points. Maxey put on a show for his hometown fans, he is from the Dallas area.

Whenever Philly needed to stop a Mavericks run, he provided an answer with his scoring prowess or creating an easy scoring opportunity for his teammates. Maxey has taken a franchise player level leap so far this season and if he keeps this up, he will continue to be a top candidate for the MVP award this year. His biggest development has been as a playmaker for the second straight game he had a double-double and if he can continue to make the right plays through his passing ability it will add another dimension to Philly’s explosive offense.

To the Mavericks credit they continued to fight in this contest and would not go away, they made the Sixers earn this victory. At one point they were able to cut Philly’s double-digit lead to single digits. However, thanks to some timely buckets from Maxey, Embiid, Edgecombe, and Quentin Grimes (19 points) the Sixers were able to stay ahead of Dallas in this contest.

Over the last few games, the Sixers have been missing a scoring punch off their bench because Grimes has been in a scoring slump since returning from battling illness last week. He finally was able to find his rhythm again in tonight’s contest. Philly’s second unit has certainly missed his scoring ability over the last few games, and it has made things very difficult for the Sixers and has cost them games over the last few weeks. Grimes returning to form would help Philly keep Maxey fresh and take the scoring load off Embiid, George, Edgecombe, and Maxey. That is how important of a player Grimes is to Philly’s success and he should get plenty of opportunities to continue to find his rhythm again.

The Sixers will now prepare to face the New York Knicks for the second time this season, who are looking to avenge an earlier loss to them two weeks ago. Philly will need to limit their turnovers, stay connected to their man on defense, and continue to create high percentage scoring opportunities from their ball movement and make those shots like they did tonight against Dallas. Implementing these things into their game plan on Saturday night will put them in great position to win their 19^th game of the season and extend their winning streak to three games.