The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Houston Rockets 108-102 on Thursday as the team fell to 3-2 to begin the 2024 season.
Dallas struggled to recover after allowing the Rockets to take a lead early in the first quarter, as Houston led 34-21 by the end of the first.
This slow start persisted through the first three-quarters of the game as the Mavericks trailed 88-72 entering the final 12 minutes of action, though a late scoring surge late in the fourth quarter helped Dallas cut the lead to just 98-94 with under four minutes remaining.
The Mavericks cut the lead down to three points with roughly one minute remaining in the game, but multiple clutch baskets from the Rockets helped carry them to victory while handing Dallas their second loss of the season.
Mavericks Head Coach Jason Kidd said after the game that the team has “started slow the whole season” and it is a problem they will have to address as the year continues.
“We got to figure out how to get off to better starts. But the fouling and rebounding, that’s what it comes down to. So, we got to be better in that area,” he added, per Mavs.com.
Dallas was led in this game by guards Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, who combined for 57 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists while shooting 48.9% from the field and 61.5% from behind the three-point line.
Although Irving and Doncic were efficient from both parts of the field, the Mavericks combined to shoot just 45.9% from the field and 33.3% from the three-point line. But the biggest reason for the loss came at the free throw line.
The Mavericks managed to shoot 14-20 from the free throw line in this game, but they also committed a high number of fouls during the game and allowed the Rockets to take 27 attempts of their own while making 20 of these attempts.
Kidd discussed the free throw differential after the game and said the referees were doing their jobs, noting that the Mavericks were “out here hacking” and the team committed “a ton of bad fouls.”
“It’s all coachable. It’s all fixable. It’s early in the season, but it’s not the referees. It’s us. We got to be better. The referees did their part tonight — we did not. We’ll watch video tomorrow and get better.”
The good news for the Mavericks is that they remain in the playoff picture to begin the season, as the team is half of a game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings for the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
Dallas will have a chance to bounce back from this loss in its next matchup against the Orlando Magic, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
