PHILADELPHIA -– From the 8:05 mark of the fourth quarter Tuesday to the 5:37 mark of the fourth quarter, the Dallas Mavericks amazingly turned the ball over on six consecutive possessions.
The game against Philadelphia was tied at 81-all when the Mavs mist have thought it was Christmas and decided to get into the gift-giving mood. By the time the Mavs finished playing loose with the basketball, the Sixers had built a 90-81 lead.
Those turnovers – two by Darren Collison, two by OJ Mayo and one each from Chris Kaman and Dominique Jones – helped stake the Sixers to a 100-98 win over the Mavs.
"That was the game, because to that point I think we had nine or 10 (turnovers),''' Carlisle said. "They were untimely (turnovers), to say the least, and completely out of character to how we had played to that point.’’
Meanwhile, the Mavs left Wells Fargo Center not being able to explain how they could turn the ball over eight times in the critical fourth quarter after turning it over just seven times in the first three periods.
“Fumble-itis,’’ forward Shawn Marion said. “Give me a word. I don’t know.
“It sucks to have them hit all at once consecutively. You have eight turnovers (in the fourth quarter) and lose by two points? That’s tough.’’
It’s tough for the Mavs because they were neck-and-neck with the Sixers. Until the ball started feeling like it had baby oil on it.
“To come up short like that, it hurts,’’ Marion said. “And especially when we had a good chance to pull away from them in that fourth quarter.’’
Marion hopes the Mavs (7-8) will be able to get their act together and put 48 solid minutes together when they meet the Bulls in Chicago at 7 Wednesday night.
“We’re there,’’ said Marion, who had 17 points and eight rebounds against the Sixers. “We’ve just got to find a way to get over that little hump right now.
“We want to be consistent. We’re not consistent yet.’’
At least the Mavs showed Marion a side that he hopes become a consistent trend.
“Tonight I can honestly say we played hard the whole game,’’ Marion said. “For the most part we’ve got to shake it off and we’ve got to go try to get this next one on the road.’’
-- Dwain Price
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