The Dallas Mavericks (12-23) entered Saturday night’s game against the Houston Rockets (21-11) on a four-game losing streak, but found a way to get a second-straight big win over their rival to the South,
110-104.
The game got off to a painfully slow start, with Rockets center Alperen Sengun rolling his ankle a minute in, resulting in a timeout before he headed to the locker room. By the time the game got going, the Mavs had turned it over three times in as many minutes and were down by nine points. Of note, Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford both started, which meant the Cooper-Flagg-as-point-guard experiment was back for at least one night. It did not go particularly well. Dallas turned it over five times in the first quarter and found themselves trailing 31-25 after one.
The second quarter featured a more conventional lineup for Dallas and much better results came with it. Dallas couldn’t miss in the frame (13-for-22 from the field) while Houston couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn (7-for-28). The Mavs turned a six-point deficit into a four-point lead and things were looking good, but then P.J. Washington’s night came to an end after he injured his right ankle while fighting over a screen. Kevin Durant (who was getting anything he wanted to that point) committed his fourth foul and had to go to the bench, allowing Dallas to build a 57-50 lead at halftime.
The Rockets remembered how proficient they are at rebounding to open the third quarter and punished the Mavs on the boards. Dallas countered with pace and high percentage shots at the rim, led by Brandon Williams’ drives to open up the offense. Max Christie got in on the action with a ferocious two-handed slam as well. With the game tied at 65, Dallas reeled off a 22-10 run to take an 87-75 lead into the fourth quarter.
The flow became a grind for the Mavs in the fourth quarter, as a 17-point lead dropped to nine before Ryan Nembhard hit a tricky flip shot followed by a Christie three-pointer to give Dallas some breathing room. Oddly, Naji Marshall controlled the offense despite Williams being on the floor, and the results were mixed. Houston was able to force turnovers and cut a 14-point lead to eight where it hovered until the game was all but out of reach after a drive and dunk by Christie with under a minute remaining.
The Mavs need a point guard at point guard
It’s understandable that head coach Jason Kidd played Flagg as the starting point guard so the Mavs could match Houston’s size with both Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford starting down low. Hopefully, this will be the last time Dallas tries it, however. The Mavs got roasted by Houston’s guards, not their bigs (granted, Sengun went down early), then found themselves with the lead once Williams and Nembhard got some burn. Flagg had two turnovers and two fouls in the blink of an eye. When Flagg moved to his natural position, Dallas played almost eight minutes of turnover-free ball. Again, the logic was defensible against the Rockets, but enough is enough. Flagg is significantly better in his natural position on the wing. Oh, and he ended up with five first-half assists when he shifted away from point guard. Go figure.
Max Christie sighting
Christie has looked like a different player since dropping 25-points against the Blazers two games ago. At some point shortly after arriving in Dallas, Christie seemed almost relegated to shooting from beyond the arc. Over the past week, Kidd indicated he wanted Christie more involved, and Christie has taken full advantage. His game is clearly much more than just shooting corner 3-pointers. Christie has been a point of excitement since he’s taken on a more featured role.
The Mavs’ roster is likely to look very different as soon as the upcoming NBA trade deadline. It will be nice to see Christie get more looks and possibly become a bigger part of the action going forward. He shot 10-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-6 from deep en route to 24 points to go along with 7 rebounds in the win over Houston. He’s put together his best three-game stretch of his young career in the Mavs’ last three games — and it doesn’t feel like a fluke.
Battle of the boards
The Rockets are the best rebounding team in the league by a huge margin (2.2 rebounds per game over the second-best team). Tonight they pulled in 51 to the Mavericks’ 47. Being outrebounded by only four is a huge accomplishment, whether or not Sengun (or Steven Adams) was able to play. The Rockets rebound as a squad, and hanging that close with them was a significant part of a successful outcome for Dallas. In addition to the pure rebounding totals, there were at least two sequences in the game where Dallas ceded multiple offensive boards to the Rockets. While maddening, the ultimate outcome was Dallas getting stops both times. That tenacity was demonstrated in various aspects of the game and made a big difference.
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