The Dallas Mavericks fell 108-102 to the Houston Rockets Thursday night in a game that rarely got as close as the final score might indicate. Houston led by as much as 23 points late in the third quarter before Dallas made a late charge to get the lead down to three, but they could never tie or take the lead. The Rockets were up by double-digits for the entire second and third quarters as the Mavs struggled to find offense until the fourth quarter.
This was a game Dallas will look back on later in the year and wish they took advantage of. Houston shot the ball poorly, especially from three, but the Mavs couldn’t rebound, stop fouling, or get the offense rolling.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday night’s disappointment.
1. Luka Doncic Has to Be Better
You can look at his final statline and think Luka Doncic played solid: 29 points, 12/25 shooting, 3/7 from three. But he also only had five rebounds and two assists and had just 14 points on 6/17 shooting heading into the fourth. That doesn’t even factor in the frustration fouls for not getting a call on offense or missing a layup. He isn’t playing as well as we’re used to seeing him play, and with the depth not playing well for the most part, it’s on the stars to lift the team.
2. Slow Starts Are Becoming a Trend
20, 26, 27, 26, 21. Those are the first quarters from each of the five Mavericks games this season. They’ve shot just 47/119 (39.5%) in the first quarters this season and have yet to have at least a 50% shooting performance in the opening frame. That isn’t good enough in today’s NBA, where offense and pacing rule. Some of that is Luka’s slow starts, but the depth around him also has to be better and take advantage of open looks.
3. Dominated on the Glass
With Dallas’ center rotation of Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, the Mavericks are supposed to be able to control rebounds and get out on the break, but Houston dominated the offensive glass. The Rockets grabbed 18 offensive rebounds on Thursday night, which led to 20 second-chance points. For most of the game, they’d have as many offensive rebounds as Dallas had defensive rebounds. Those extra possessions frustrated the Mavs, and it bled over to the offensive end. Just shoring that up probably could’ve won the Mavs this game, but now they have to shake it off before the Magic come to town on Sunday.
