Headlined by the All-Star battle between Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic, the game got off to a competitive start as Philly led 19-17 through the 6:17 mark in the first quarter.
That’s when the game witnessed a near 45-minute delay.
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Why was the 76ers vs. Mavericks game delayed?
After knocking down a 3-pointer, Doncic was the first to notice the slightly tilted rim on the Mavericks’ end of the floor.
The rim apparently slanted after Dwight Powell grabbed on it on a failed-dunk attempt a few minutes earlier.
Dallas 7-foot-3 big man Boban Marjanovic tried to help fixing the rim but neither he nor the official could resolve the issue.
That forced the extra stantion to be used, which caused a further delay because it was a couple of inches higher than the 10-foot height and needed to be adjusted.
While everyone else waited, both teams’ social media accounts found a way to keep busy during the delay.
Once all was well, the players got a five-minute warm-up before play resumed.
The first quarter ended up lasting over an hour.
