HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 30 points apiece and the Houston Rockets used a big second quarter to build a huge lead and coast to a 128-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
The Rockets led by six after the first quarter before outscoring Dallas 38-12 in the second to take a 32-point lead into halftime.
Durant and Smith each scored 16 points each in the first half. The Rockets
were up by 15 midway through the second before using a 19-2 run to make it 70-38 at halftime.
Kyrie Irving had 15 points for Dallas in his first regular-season game since tearing his left ACL in March 2025. But it was a tough debut for Dallas coach Dusty May, who led Michigan to the NCAA championship before being hired to replace the fired Jason Kidd.
Cooper Flagg, the 2025 No. 1 pick and last season's NBA Rookie of the Year, led the Mavericks with 32 points. P.J. Washington had 10 points and four rebounds.
The Mavericks used a 9-0 run, with six points from Marcus Sasser, to cut the lead to 103-86 with about nine minutes remaining. But Houston used an 8-2 spurt with 3s from Durant and Fred VanVleet to push it to 111-88 about a minute later.
Alperen Sengun added 23 points with 10 rebounds for the Rockets. VanVleet chipped in six points with 11 assists in his return after missing last season recovering from a torn ACL.
Houston’s Tari Eason was ejected with about three minutes left in the first quarter after receiving a flagrant foul 2 for shoving Washington to the court.
Mavericks: Visit Indiana on Friday night.
Rockets: Play San Antonio in Austin, Texas on Friday.
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