Mavericks vs Rockets Final Score: Dallas loses to Houston, 108-102

The Dallas Mavericks lost 108-102 to Houston Rockets Thursday night in Dallas. Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 29 points, while Jalen Green led the Mavericks with 23. The Mavericks once again came out with a big deficit.

The Mavericks were frustrated and had a series of foul problems, resulting in Dwight Powell even getting a few minutes in an attempt to find an answer. Powell helped a little, but the Mavericks just didn’t do enough to win this game.

The Mavericks finally made a run with some hot shooting from Klay Thompson and Doncic, but it proved to be too little too late to make up for the earlier struggles. Jalen Green made a back-breaking three late, negating a pair of similar shots from Doncic.

Here are the things you need to know.

Luka Doncic needs to play better

Doncic is already a thoroughly great player. He has been good enough that it would be a good start to the season for most players. His stats even look OK. He has not played as well as he is capable of playing. He has been better defensively, and long term his offense is the lowest possible concern. Right now, that offense is a problem that has cost the team.

The Mavericks need to fight more on the boards

The Mavericks were outrebounded 50-37. The Rockets had 18 offensive rebounds. Teams that have the aspirations that the Mavericks do simply don’t get knocked back like that. The Mavericks’ centers attack both drives as they should. It is the centerpiece of the Mavericks’ defense. When they are forced to help, the rest of the team must come together as a team and fight out. So far this has not happened.

PJ Washington continues to do everything but shoot

Washington looks like an NBA 2K player who has chosen to sacrifice shooter points from his shooting to improve his defense. He had three steals and a block today. He also had nine rebounds.

He was 0-of-2 on threes, which drops him to 6-of-24 for the season. He has too long a track record of shooting to give up his shot, but that’s concerning because everything else he does means the Mavericks certainly can’t take him off the floor.

All in all, this was a bad loss. It’s too early to get too upset, but losses like this count as much as losses in May when they tally up the standings at the end of the year.

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