Dallas (19-12) has won nine of its last 11 at the American Airlines Center, and its latest victory there was hard-earned. The Mavericks rallied from a 29-point deficit to beat Minnesota 107-100 on Tuesday night.

Dallas was down 70-41 early in the third quarter before starting its comeback, the largest in franchise history. The Mavs' previous largest comeback was 25 points in a 124-123 overtime win against Denver on Nov. 26, 1994.

In home games against Philadelphia, though, Dallas has had little trouble staying ahead, winning the last three such contests since a 93-89 loss Jan. 29, 2005.

The Mavs' average margin of victory during that run has been 13.7 points, and they never trailed in the first win, 104-92 on Feb. 27, 2006. Philadelphia's largest lead during its skid at Dallas was seven points in a 99-84 loss Nov. 13, 2007.

Dallas, however, has struggled at home against lesser teams than Philadelphia, needing double-digit rallies to beat Indiana and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Jason Terry helped save the Mavs on Tuesday, scoring 24 of his 29 points in the second half. The veteran guard is averaging 22.3 points and shooting 65.0 percent (13-for-20) from 3-point range during Dallas' home winning streak against Philadelphia.

Mavs star forward Dirk Nowitzki was back Tuesday after serving a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul against Utah, finishing with 24 points and 13 rebounds. He's averaging 28.8 points in his last 11 games at the American Airlines Center.

The Sixers (13-18) have been emphasizing defense in practice, and it paid off in a 100-92 win over the Clippers on Wednesday night. Philadelphia is allowing 96.2 points a contest, but had given up 105 or more in each of its three previous games.

"I think we're seeing progress on the defensive end," Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala said. "We're trying to kill each other in practice and it's starting to show."

Philadelphia held the Clippers to 40.5 percent shooting as it snapped a four-game losing streak. The Sixers improved to 1-3 on their season-high six-game road trip and are 4-4 since interim coach Tony DiLeo took over for the fired Maurice Cheeks.

Iguodala had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Only two other players - Thaddeus Young (20) and Andre Miller (15) - scored in double figures for Philadelphia.

"This was a must-win, especially from a morale standpoint going into Dallas," Iguodala said.

Young, the Sixers' first-round pick in 2007, is averaging 15.7 points and shooting 64.7 percent in his last three games.

Dallas and Philadelphia tied last season's series 1-1.