For more than three quarters, the young Rockets will have held the dragee high at the Mavs for their debut at home. But, under the leadership of Luka Doncic (26 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists), Dallas ended up getting the better of his Texan rival (116-106).
The troops of Stephen Silas hung on for a long time but they experienced a first soft spot after returning from the locker room, with a period of 4 minutes without any basket, allowing Dallas to pass a 13-0 to get comfortable. Returned thanks to a 10-0, the Rockets then ran out of fuel late in the game.
Above all, Dallas used his atomic weapon by placing Luka Doncic at the low post, where the Slovenian star was untenable to close the deal, aided by the outside address of Reggie Bullock (16 points in 17 minutes).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Jason Kidd got his 15 players involved. For their home debut this season, Jason Kidd wanted everyone in the Mavs squad to come in and stretch their legs. This allowed Moses Brown or Frank Ntilikina to sneak a little basket. But this scenario is unlikely to recur during the course of the season, the coach warned.
– These Rockets don’t let go. Without any real objective this season except that of developing their young shoots, the Rockets have delivered a rather homogeneous performance among their neighbors in Dallas. It was in the second half that it got stuck but Houston showed a good state of mind overall. “We were in”, breathed Christian Wood afterwards. “I loved how we fought. We had energy throughout the game. We just let this game slip through our fingers in third. “
– Luka Doncic at the low post. Not successful on his distant attempts (only 1/6), Luka Doncic was placed closer to the circle in the second half. With his physique of panzer, he caused quite a bit of damage by pushing in particular the rookie Jalen Green, a featherweight for the Slovenian. Expect to see that very often with the Mavs this season.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Jalen Brunson. The substitute leader of the Mavs, who was a strong contender for the best sixth man trophy last year, is getting off to a good start. Author of a double-double off the bench, 11 points and 11 assists, he quite simply equaled his career record with the pass against Houston. Bodes well for the Mavs.
✅ Eric Gordon. The last survivor of Mike D’Antoni’s Rockets team is now a replacement for these young Rockets. But the veteran fulfilled his mission perfectly last night with a performance of 22 points at 7/11 on shots including 3/5 at 3-points. He notably planted 15 points 5/5 on shots (2/2 from far) in 8 minutes in the third quarter.
⛔ Jalen Green. After his excellent 30-point game against Boston, Jalen Green quickly fell from his cloud in Dallas. The Rockets rookie didn’t have the same success on shots, 4/16 on shots and 2/9 on 3-points. Hang on your seatbelts, this is just the start of the roller coaster for the 19-year-old who will experience other ups and downs before finding his cruising speed …
⛔ Kristaps Porzingis. Perhaps it was due to his black eye, but the Latvian Mavs giant has failed to adjust the sights on his outside shot (as since the start of the season). KP finished with 9 points to 2/10 with the shots including 1/4 to 3-points and he even had to leave his teammates because of “stiffness in the back”. After the game, Jason Kidd assured that it was nothing serious and that he would be reassessed before the next game.
SUCCESSFUL START
Boban Marjanovic is now in his sixth season in the NBA, and his second with the Mavs. The Serbian giant still had not set foot on the floors this season, but this third game allowed him to get back into action and he did not disappoint. Big favorite with Texas fans, “Bobi” was received 5/5 on shots and missed the perfect game within one pitch. At 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist in 9 minutes of play, he was very productive for his first.
THE FOLLOWING
Dallas (2-1) : reception of the Spurs in Dallas, on the night of Thursday to Friday (2:30).
Houston (1-3) : return home to face the Jazz, in the night from Thursday to Friday (2h).
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
