HOUSTON — With 11 straight wins, the Rockets entered Sunday as the NBA’s hottest team. With that streak in mind, an opponent likely needed to have to have phenomenal players to beat them.
Unfortunately for the Rockets, the Dallas Mavericks have two in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. That dynamic duo took turns imposing their will and incredible shooting ability, as they ended Houston’s winning streak with a 125-107 victory inside Toyota Center.
Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer who averages 34.0 points per game, came out on fire in the first quarter — which was probably to be expected after he hit an incredible shot off the scoreboard during pregame warmups. His 22 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range helped the Mavericks take a 36-24 at the end of the first period.
“As our leader, he came out and set the tone offensively,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said postgame.
It didn’t matter if rookie Amen Thompson or second-year forward Jabari Smith was in front of Doncic; he was hitting everything he threw up, including an underhanded 21-foot shot that brought Dallas fans in attendance to their feet. Many local fans looked amazed.
Another crazy trick shot from Luka 👀 pic.twitter.com/h9dIcPSZl3
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 31, 2024
“We have been lucky enough to be around him for three years,” Kidd said postgame of Doncic. “We have seen him kick the ball in, we have seen him shoot from half-court, full court, sitting in a chair. So to see him do that, I think a lot of people got excited.”
“But at the same time, we said, ‘That’s Luka.’” He is always able to make tough shots. He is Picasso. Give him the paintbrush; he’s going to do something special. That shot was pretty special.”
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving echoed his head coach regarding Doncic’s style of play and how it opens up the floor for his other teammates. The rest of the Dallas players shot 50% from 3-point range, while Doncic shot 56 percent from beyond the arc.
“When he is that efficient and aggressive, it will open up a lot of opportunities for us,” said Irving, who finished with 24 points.
Rockets head coach Ime Udoka may be an art lover, but he would rather see masterpieces on canvas than from an opposing player. Udoka used a switching style on defense throughout the game, which led to Doncic scoring 47 points through three quarters.
“Because of his size and passing ability, he can kind of pick a part the gym,” Udoka said when asked about the defensive strategy on Doncic. “We want to guard one-on-one and force him into tougher shots. That was the objective.” #Rockets #Sarge @TheRocketsWire pic.twitter.com/Kt1oduJb0f
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) April 1, 2024
“Because of his size and passing ability, he can kind of pick apart the gym,” Udoka said of the defensive strategy. “We want to guard one-on-one and force him into tougher shots. That was the objective.”
“But I think we were kind of back on our heels and made it a little bit too easy early,” Udoka said. “Just walk-up shots: I felt like he had 20 or more in the first quarter and didn’t really have to work for it. So, you want to take him inside of the 3-point line and make it a little bit harder. When he did, we didn’t show a lot of resistance.”
It remains to be seen whether Udoka will switch strategies when the Rockets (38-36) visit Dallas (45-29) next Sunday. With postseason hopes hanging by a thread, Houston’s margin for error is minimal.
Houston trails Golden State (40-34) by two games with eight to play for the final postseason spot in the Western Conference, and the Warriors own any tiebreaker, as well. Thus, the Rockets need to outplay Golden State by at least three games over this closing stretch, which makes the rematch in Dallas very important to Houston.
