Skip to main content

Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points while playing only 20 minutesTony Gutierrez/The Associated Press

The Dallas Mavericks had no need for another big comeback when playing the NBA's only winless team.

This time, the Mavs built a big early lead that kept growing until they had their largest victory ever, 123-70 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.

"The sum total of the whole thing was our guys played hard," coach Rick Carlisle said. "They played together, they concentrated, they didn't have any slippage."

The 53-point margin for Dallas surpassed its 50-point win over the New York Knicks in January 2010.

At 0-8, Philadelphia is the only NBA team without a victory. The only time the 76ers have gone deeper into a season before winning a game was 1972-73, when they lost their first 15 games, according to STATS.

"You get another game tomorrow. The bad news is it doesn't go away," said coach Brett Brown, whose team is the youngest in the league, averaging just under 24 years old. "It's like water dripping on your forehead, and there's no place to hide."

Two nights after coming from 24 down to beat Sacramento, all 13 Dallas players scored and all but one had a rebound. Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points in only 20 minutes to lead five players scoring in double figures.

The 76ers, who scored the last five points to avoid their largest loss ever, matched Utah's 0-8 start from a year ago. The NBA's longest losing streak to start a season belongs to the New Jersey Nets, who opened 0-18 in 2009-10.

About the only highlight for the 76ers after winning the opening tip was the return of last year's NBA Rookie of the Year. Michael Carter-Williams played for the first time since surgery in May to repair the labrum in his right shoulder, leading Philly with 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting off the bench, and also having eight rebounds and five assists.

"I'm sure we'll remember this, and don't want it to happen again," Carter-Williams said. "None of us in this locker room will ever get used to losing like that. None of us will ever get used to losing, period. We're upset after every loss."

Dallas jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first 2 minutes and led 38-10 by the end of the first quarter – the largest margin ever by the Mavericks through one quarter.

Nowitzki then hit two more jumpers as the Mavericks scored the first seven points in the second quarter. Their 73-29 lead for a 44-point bulge gave them their biggest halftime lead ever.

The only miss for Nowitzki came on a 3-pointer with 7:15 left in the third quarter when the Mavs led 82-37. A minute later, Nowitzki was out of the game for good.

GRIZZLIES 111, KINGS 110

MEMPHIS – Courtney Lee scored on a lob pass as time expired to cap a furious fourth-quarter rally, and Memphis came from 26 points down to beat Sacramento.

The outcome wasn't decided until after a lengthy review by officials who were trying to determine if the inbounds pass from Vince Carter with less than a second left was tipped by the Kings, and also to determine if Lee got the shot off before the horn sounded.

Mike Conley led Memphis with 22 points and 11 assists, while Marc Gasol had 20 points. Lee's reverse layup gave him 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Rudy Gay scored 25 points, while DeMarcus Cousins added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings, who lost their third straight.

Interact with The Globe