NBA Nowitzki, Bradley key Mavericks

Dallas trounced the 76ers by the widest margin ever between the teams.
DALLAS (AP) -- Dirk Nowitzki continued his almost-perfect play and Shawn Bradley had another double-double for the Dallas Mavericks.
Road-weary Philadelphia never had a chance.
Nowitzki had 29 points and just one turnover -- he has just four in 304 minutes the last six games -- and Bradley had 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead Dallas to a 102-83 victory, the Mavericks' largest winning margin against the 76ers.
"Shawn was sensational. He has gone from being one of our worst players to one of our best this year," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "Dirk's had big games."
Nowitzki, Dallas' leading scorer and a top vote-getter in the All-Star balloting, hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to make it 34-24. The Mavericks maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game, and led by as many as 25 in the fourth quarter.
Double-double
The Mavericks improved to 26-0 over the last three seasons when Bradley has a double-double, including eight this season. About the only thing the 7-foot-6 center didn't do after an impressive 21-minute effort against his former team was talk to the media.
So his teammates spoke for him.
"He's been a force in the middle and when playoff time comes around, we're going to need someone to clog up the middle," Nowitzki said.
"He came into the season in shape and with confidence," Michael Finley said. "We need him to play well and be a presence in the middle."
The 76ers finished their six-game road trip with just one win, and seemed lifeless pretty much from the start of the early afternoon game.
Only lead
Philadelphia's only lead came 41 seconds in when Keith Van Horn hit a free throw for the game's first point. Nowitzki's 14-foot jumper, after Steve Nash's steal, put the Mavericks ahead to stay 17 seconds later.
Dallas hadn't won at home against Philadelphia since Dec. 6, 1996, a stretch of just four games because the teams didn't play each other during the 1998-99 season. The Mavericks twice had 18-point wins in the series.
"Let's not get too full of ourselves and let's understand that they were tired," Nelson said. "I was expecting a tough game and it turned out not to be."
Finley had 18 points for the Mavericks, while Nash had 16 points and eight assists.
Iverson stars
Allen Iverson led Philadelphia with 25 points and his best shooting game on the trip. After shooting just 31 percent (32-of-102) the previous five games, Iverson made 11 of 19. Former Maverick Greg Buckner added 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting in a reserve role.
Nowitzki started the second quarter with five straight points. He hit a 16-foot jumper, then after a steal by Nash, moved through traffic, making a continuation basket and adding the free throw for a 15-point lead.
"Defensively, we have no chemistry. Guys are worrying about stopping their own guy and they're not helping the other guys," Iverson said.