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Today's game was a fight between two teams who started the season in the same way - Dallas went 2-7 through nine games and Houston went 1-5 through 6 games. However, Dallas' prodigy Luka Doncic found his groove, and now Dallas sits at 13-11, good for eighth in the playoff standings while the Rockets have cratered to 11-14, second from the Suns who are 4-22 and one game away from the 12-14 San Antonio Spurs.
Luka is gunning for the ROY award, and he displayed that against the Rockets, going on an 11-0 run in the last minutes of the game to seal the victory for the now 13-11 Mavericks. Here are three talking points about the game.
#3 Rockets are hurting themselves
Chris Paul isn't worried. He has reiterated that multiple times over the past few games, saying the season is 82 games long and the Rockets will figure it out. But with losses racking up more than wins, is it time to say, "Houston, we have a problem"?
Harden did nothing to satiate his detractors when he went 0-4 from behind the arc in the last quarter. The reigning MVP of an offense dictated on making threes should not have this sort of game when the team is below .500. He did finish with 35 points and 8 assists, as did Chris Paul, but Houston will need to figure out its problems sooner rather than later, and it could be time to press the panic button in this ruthless Western conference.
In clutch situations, the Rockets have made just 36.9 percent of their shots, ranking 28th in the league, and 21.6 percent of their threes, to rank 28th.
The Rockets had all the momentum going in the fourth as Doncic's foul on Nene gave the Rockets an eight-point lead. However, Luka responded to a cold shooting night by giving Dallas a three-point lead through a clutch run (more on that ahead). The Rockets ran out of energy halfway through, and two minutes of a European's brilliance gave Dallas a three-point lead that they would not relinquish. Rockets drop to 11-14 in the Western Conference.
#2 The Mavs team works as a whole
Dallas' entire team came to play today. While the starters have usually struggled, the bench players used to check in the game with the knowledge that they'd be playing themselves right into a hole. But today was different.
The starters as a whole had a +8 rating overall. Dallas had a very bright start to the game as they forced Harden into three fouls in the very first quarter.
DeAndre Jordan knew his role, and did it impressively, pulling down 12 points and 20 rebounds today. His energy helped Dallas close out multiple Rockets runs of varying intensity in the second half.
Rookie Jalen Brunson chipped in 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting and 3 assists to go with 3 steals and a breakaway dunk. He could be the real deal, a steal in this draft.
J.J. Barea contributed with 9 points in 18 minutes off the bench, and the team rallied to beat last season's Conference finalists.
#1 This kid is special
Last week, Jaren Jackson Jr dropped a career-high 36 points to rally Memphis over Brooklyn. Yesterday, Wendell Carter Jr blocked a Russell Westbrook dunk attempt near the rim in a straight up challenge. This year's rookie class has no limits. However, Doncic made a statement for the ROY award.
11-0. Doncic's fourth-quarter scoring run to give Dallas a three-point lead. For the most part of the game, it would have seemed that the performance during a timeout may have been mistimed.
Doncic proceeded to go 1 of 9 for the first half and 3 of 13 overall before first drilling a corner three, making a contested three-pointer over Capela's outstretched reach, making a two point floater after bodying P.J. Tucker in the paint and then a remarkably clutch step back three that is the longest run ever by a rookie since Kyrie in 2012. Despite his cold shooting performance, a clutch run like that proves what an otherworldly talent he is.
Doncic came into the league with a lot of potential and doubts. And these sort of performances have become the norm rather than the exception, as Dallas gets ready to give Dirk a playoff berth in what will likely be his last season.
