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Sixers Host Mavericks In Matchup Of Streaking Teams

The red hot Dallas Mavericks come to town tonight to face a Sixers team that's pretty hot in its own right. Dallas has just one loss in its last 17 games while the Sixers have only lost 4 over that span. Philly's 9-3 record in February is their best winning percentage for a month in eight years and was good enough to earn coach Doug Collins the Eastern Conference Coach Of The Month award.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told Philly.com that he credits Collins for the Sixers' success this year.

"Doug Collins is once again doing a phenomenal job completely revamping a team and franchise," Carlisle said in an e-mail. "The Sixers have gone from a disinterested team, particularly on defense, to one of the hottest and most exciting teams in the NBA. . . . I don't know of a bigger difference-maker in coaching than Doug Collins."

Tonight's game pits two of the best benches in basketball against one another. Over their 16-1 run, the Mavericks bench 49.2 points per game, over the same span the Sixer bench has 42.2 points a game. Both units are among the NBA's best.  The Sixers got 38 points from the trio of Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams & Evan Turner on Sunday to help them get over a slow start and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. They'll certainly need a similar performance against one of the best and deepest teams in the NBA tonight.