Shorthanded Sixers’ slide without Joel Embiid continues in loss to Mavericks

The 76ers are in a tough spot.

On paper, they’ll have a hard time winning consistently with Joel Embiid sidelined for an extended time following surgery on the lateral meniscus in his left knee.

The Sixers’ 118-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday was an example of the team playing hard but ultimately being doomed by a lack of bodies.

The Mavericks (27-23) opened the fourth quarter on a 15-3 run to take a commanding 92-77 lead and never looked back.

» READ MORE: With Joel Embiid out, Sixers should push to acquire Andre Drummond at trade deadline

In addition to missing Embiid, the Sixers (30-19) were without starters De’Anthony Melton and Nico Batum. They’ve lost two straight and six out of their last seven games after winning six straight.

“You have to just stay focused on the next game, and we got to try to pick one off,” coach Nick Nurse said. “That’s what I’ve been saying. I was feeling really good about tonight, especially the way we came out and started playing. I felt, ‘OK, we’re going to be in there.’ ...

“Listen, I don’t like to use the spiraling-out-of-control terms very often. We just got to take the next game and try to get a W.”

Dallas guard Kyrie Irving, returning after missing six games with a sprained right thumb, finished with 23 points, eight assists, two steals, and one block.

Forward Josh Green added 20 points while making 4-of-7 three-pointers. All-Star Luka Dončić had 19 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.

The Sixers were competitive in the first half thanks in large part to a balanced attack. They began to slowly unravel while making just four of their final 23 shots in the third quarter.

“We just didn’t score it well,” said Nurse, whose squad shot 43.0% from the field, including making just 8-of- 27 three-pointers.

The Sixers, however, outrebounded the Mavs, 51-44. They also had a 48-36 points-in-the-paint advantage.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid’s latest knee injury puts Sixers in danger of tumbling down the East standings

Kelly Oubre Jr. paced them with 19 points along with six rebounds and one steal. Tyrese Maxey, a newly minted All-Star, had 15 points and a team-high seven assists. Tobias Harris had 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting and six rebounds, six assists, two steals, and one block.

The Mavericks outscored the Sixers in the fourth quarter by 41-28, thanks to 64.0% shooting from the field and making 7-of-10 three-pointers.

Melton has missed 12 straight games with a lumbar spine stress response. Batum has missed the last four games with a left hamstring strain. Key reserve Robert Covington has been sidelined since Dec. 30 with a left knee bone bruise.

Patrick Beverley asked reporters to leave the Sixers locker room after they were already in there for postgame interviews. Asked why he did that by The Associated Press, Beverley said the players wanted to congratulate an unnamed teammate who just became a father. But it wasn’t immediately clear which Sixer, if any, was a new father.

The reporters re-entered the locker room five minutes later after Beverley was informed he couldn’t prevent the media from doing its job.

The Sixers will play the Golden State Warriors in the third game of their four-game homestand at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. This will be a rematch of the Warriors’ 119-107 victory last Tuesday at Chase Center. Perennial All-Star Steph Curry torched the Sixers for a game-high 37 points.

Harris had a team-high 26 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in that game. Furkan Korkmaz added a season-high 19 points, making 5-of-6 three-pointers off the bench.