HOUSTON, TEXAS — The Mavericks momentum fell flat on their short road trip to Houston losing to the Rockets 102-93 after winning 5 straight over the past week. To be honest, the team in some aspects overlooked their inner state rivals and they paid the price for it when the game clock struck double zeros.
The Mavericks had a sluggish start to the first quarter while the Rockets and John Wall thrived from the field. Wall scored 8 of the Rockets first quarter points and distributed the ball well, notching 2 assists on two three point shots taking an early 12-2 lead. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis grew tired of the Rockets run and snapped it by scoring 13 of the Mavericks points to bring their deficit to 5 points. The Mavericks subbed in their sixth man of the year candidate Tim Hardaway Jr. and found a spark quickly, knocking down 2 shots from deep to bring the Mavs deficit to 2 points. Dallas finished the first quarter trailing the Rockets 23-24, but right their wrongs that lingered until their scoring run in the early parts of the first quarter.
Quietly, the Mavericks have been one of the better teams from beyond the arc over the past two months and over and over again it’s one of the unique traits of this team that leads to wins.
After Dallas took the lead for the first time in the game, it was an offensive stalemate for both teams with very little points being scored from the beginning and lasted midway through the second quarter. Houston striked first scoring on 2 back to back baskets and Dallas followed by finding range from the perimeter with KP and THJ being the producers of those shots to put the Mavericks within 3 points of the lead. Kevin Porter Jr. returned the favor connecting on 2 of his own shots from beyond the arc which sparked a Rockets run and led to a 11 point lead late in the second quarter. Despite the deficit the Mavericks found a way to muster up some points to end the first half trailing the Rockets 42-47.
Dallas had their worst shooting performance during their 5 game winning streak shooting 33% from the field. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis were the only starters to finish the first half with a scored basket and combined to score 26 points. The rest of their production came off the bench by way of Tim Hardaway Jr and Jalen Brunson who scored 14 points combined shooting 56% from the field.
The Rockets opened the third quarter with a good shot from three which was an area they thrived in during the first half, but didn’t detour the Mavericks hopes of gaining the lead once more. After the made three by the Rockets, the Mavericks scored 8 straight points to bring them within 2 points of the lead. The Rockets have been one of the worst teams in the NBA, but for some reason they always rise to the occasion when Dallas comes to town. The Rockets found their stride, created separation and increased their lead to 11 points to finish the third quarter with a lead 75-64. The main production came from KP and Luka but the problem was the rest of the starters only scored a combined 3 points through three quarters. Another problem this team was thought to have overcome was how well they shot from the field and from the three point line.
The Mavericks recorded their third straight quarter shooting less than 40% from the field and trailed with 1 quarter left to play, which is a position the Mavs haven’t found themselves in frequently during their 5 game winning streak. Dallas had to find a way to comeback and steal a win on the road after being down by double digits and securing one lead the entire game.
The Mavericks got to work and got physical and got to the free throw line scoring 7 out their next 12 points after being fouled to narrow the Rockets lead to 4 points. Dorian Finney-Smith who had a career night on Monday came in clutch midway through the fourth quarter and knocked down a big time three pointer to make things uncomfortable for the Rockets. On the next possession Kelly Olynyk scored on a foul and knocked down a free throw to get the three point play to extend their lead to 5 points with just over two minutes remaining. Dorian Finney-Smith continued his streaky fourth quarter and knocked down a big time three pointer to get Mavericks back in the game bringing the Rockets lead to 2 points.
The momentum that Dallas built was short-lived and the Rockets clamped down on defense and were very productive on the offensive end scoring 9 straight points to extend their lead and eventually grab the win.
This game was the definition of a trap game. All of the signs were there and it was eerily close to being a “too good to be true scenario”. All of these games matter and at this point no team can be taken lightly and Dallas will have their work cut out for them when the Bucks come to town tomorrow night.
