Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey tore the Dallas Mavericks (26-25) apart on Tuesday, and Kyrie Irving & Co. came up short in crunch time in a 118-116 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers (20-29) at Wells Fargo Center.

Maxey continued his scorching run across the last handful of games and led the 76ers with 33 points, 13 assists and two steals in the win. Embiid came back from a knee injury and added 29 points in one of his best games of the season.

Irving led all scorers with 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds from the point guard position in the loss. Naji Marshall added 19 points, five dimes and three steals off the bench, and newcomer Max Christie played some big minutes for the Mavs as well — 32 of them, to be exact.

17-2: Mavs’ run stretching into second quarter

After giving up 36 points in the opening quarter, the Dallas defense gave up just one field goal in the first six minutes of the second. Reggie Jackson hit a short pull-up jumper with 9:02 left in the first half, but the Mavs put the clamps on the rest of the 76ers offense for at least a few minutes to grab the lead back after trailing 36-31 at the end of one.

Kyrie Irving, who scored 12 points and grabbed three boards in the first, hit his first 3-pointer of the game with 19 seconds left in the frame to start what would become a 17-2 run as the second quarter wore on. His running floater midway through the second capped the run and put the Mavericks up 45-38. Most of the damage done came with star Philadelphia guard (and South Garland High School’s own) Tyrese Maxey on the bench.

Irving led the Mavs with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting and grabbed six boards in the first half.

4-for-4: Max Christie 3-point shooting in first game with Mavs

Welcome to the Mavericks, Cormac Karl Christie! Christie’s first 17 minutes in a Mavs uniform were very productive, but don’t tell Nico Harrison how much you enjoyed watching the newcomer, Mavs fans. He’s still got nearly 40 hours, as of this writing, to work a deal to send Christie packing for Thanasis Antetokounmpo and a bag of sand.

Christie made all three of his first-half 3-point attempts off the bench, picked up a steal within seconds of entering the game midway through the first, and was one of four Mavericks in double figures as the Mavs took a 65-58 lead into the break. He notched 10 points and five boards in 17 efficient minutes after coming into the game averaging just over 10 points as a starter in his last 23 games in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform.

Then, for good measure, Christie nailed a wide open 3-ball after a convincing pump fake from near the top of the key midway through the third to give the Mavs an 81-73 lead. That boy good. He grabbed a season-high nine rebounds, to go with 15 points, in the loss.

The Dallas bench outscored their counterparts from Philly 29-7 in the first half, counteracting big halves from Maxey (16 points, six assists) and Joel Embiid (18 points, five rebounds). Spencer Dinwiddie had seven points and six assists off the bench for Dallas, and Naji Marshall was a thorn in the 76ers’ side as well.

Marshall picked Maxey’s pocket in the first half’s final seconds then won a race against time to the rim to convert in transition before the halftime buzzer sounded. He had 11 points and two steals at the half.

19/8/4: Guerschon Yabusele’s stat line

With PJ Washington out of the game for the birth of his son, Guerschon Yabusele took advantage of switches onto smaller Dallas defenders all night long and became Embiid and Maxey’s third running mate against the Mavs. American fans will remember Yabusele for his eyebrow-raising performance during France’s run to the silver medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Yabusele finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists, including one that found Embiid for the bucket inside that put Philly up 117-116 late.

His thundering dunk inside with Christie defending and 5:31 left in the third gave Yabusele 15 points, pulled the 76ers to within 81-75 and keyed a 15-2 run that eventually saw Philadelphia pull back in front. The 76ers went ahead 88-83 on a reverse lay-in by Adem Bona with 1:21 left in the third. Dallas was 0-for-8 from the field during the Philadelphia run.

Much of that 15-2 run came with Irving on the bench, leaving the Mavs searching for that secondary playmaking option. Irving came back in late in the third but couldn’t hit his 3-point attempt on Dallas’ final possession of the frame, and the Mavericks trailed 94-87 going into the fourth.

6: Consecutive 30-point games for Maxey

Maxey came into the game averaging nearly 36 points per game in his last five. He nailed a wide open 3-pointer from the right wing to give him 31 points with 8:20 left to play after Kessler Edwards had missed one for the Mavs the last time down. After the Mavs had whittled the lead down to just one on three straight nice plays from Irving to start the fourth, Maxey’s third 3-ball of the night put the 76ers back in front by six, up 99-93.

His driving scoop over Edwards a minute later pushed the Philly lead up to 103-95. He was getting everything he wanted in the fourth quarter, but so was Irving. Irving pulled up for a little mid-range jumper the next time down in response, but trading baskets wouldn’t be enough for the Mavericks down the stretch.

9-0: Mavs late run to take the lead back

Christie was instrumental in the little 9-0 run late that saw the Mavs take the lead back with 4:25 left to play. He hit a tough turnaround jumper on Irving’s fourth assist of the game to pull Dallas to within 107-104, then found Irving on an easy leak-out bucket after a missed jumper by Embiid to pull within one. The next time down he drove baseline and found an open Klay Thompson for a corner 3-ball that gave Dallas a 109-107 lead.

Thompson responded to Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 3-pointer with another of his own, this time from the left wing, to put Dallas back in front 114-113 with 2:55 left. Marshall’s flying, acrobatic tip-dunk putback on Klay’s missed 3-ball with 1:26 to play gave the Mavs a 116-115 advantage, but Edwards threw the ball away the next time down.

It was Embiid’s lay-in with 22 seconds showing that ended up breaking the new-look Mavericks’ hearts and cementing the 76ers’ win. Marshall got his shot blocked in transition by Justin Edwards and missed a tough driving bucket with Yabusele in defense in the final minute, when either could have pulled the Mavs back in front. Dante Exum was indecisive on the Mavs’ final possession of the game with 3.8 seconds showing and lost the ball as time expired.

29/11/10: Embiid’s triple-double in his first game in a month

Dallas was hurting in the post after Daniel Gafford went out late with a tweaked shoulder, and Embiid was the benefactor of a thin Dallas frontcourt all evening. He put together an impressive 29-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance in his first game back from that nagging knee injury that saw him miss the last month. He hit just one of two free throws to give the Mavs a better chance at a win on their final possession, but the wide-eyed Dallas bunch didn’t have a clear idea of what to do with the ball in crunch time. With strong defensive pressure applied to Irving on Dallas’ final possession, the rest of the team came up short.

There were 13 lead changes in the game, eight of which occurred in the last six minutes.

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