In case you were wondering how often the Mavericks lose to Eastern Conference opponents at home, the answer is: not much. Their record at home against the East since 2002 is 68-7. Interestingly enough, one of those losses was a 93-89 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 29, 2005.
"But the Sixers had Allen Iverson then" you might say. You'd be wrong. Iverson sat the game out and the Sixers beat the Mavericks with the likes of Kenny Thomas, Kyle Korver, Andre Iguodala and John Salmons. The Mavericks shot 36.7 percent from the floor, mostly due to Dirk Nowitzki's putrid 7 of 25 shooting night. Of course, the Sixers don't have Corliss Williamson to hassle Dirk now, Reggie Evans might fill that role this time around.
Perhaps the strangest thing about that loss was Erick Dampier's night. It was the best game of his entire career and he nabbed a career-high 26 rebounds, scored 14 points and blocked 7 shots. 10 of those rebounds were on the offensive end, obviously coming from the brick-laying party the rest of the Mavericks were throwing.
-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd
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