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The Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets crossed swords in an intraconference regular-season game at the Toyota Center on Monday. The Maverick entered the game with a 2-4 record, stationed in 14th place on the standings. The Rockets arrived with a 3-2 record, holding seventh place on the table.
As for the starting lineups, Anthony Davis remained out for the second consecutive game owing to his injury. Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford and Max Christie formed the Dallas’ starting five. On the contrary, the Rockets started the game with Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason and Josh Okogie.
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The Mavericks got off to a quick start and enjoyed decent support from the road crowd. Cooper Flagg, who struggled with efficiency in the last game, made his first three shots and received solid support from Max Christie and Klay Thompson.
Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson each dropped eight points to keep the Rockets within striking distance. Houston entered the second quarter trailing 28-24 at home.
The Rockets landed the first punch in the second quarter and quickly erased the four-point deficit. Thompson and Alperen Sengun were on fire, with the former delivering numerous highlight plays. As a result, the hosts went into the break with a 58-55 lead.
P.J. Washington had a good bounce-back game and led the Mavericks with 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting. Naji Marshall’s eight points off the bench were extremely crucial as D’Angelo Russell struggled to get going.
Edited by Atishay Jain
