Dexter Dennis was able to prosper against Rockets

HOUSTON — The Mavericks found out the hard way how difficult it is to play without Luka Doncic.

With no Doncic to run the show and generate offense for himself and his teammates, the Mavs lost to the Houston Rockets, 122-96, at the Toyota Center on Friday night.

Besides Doncic — he was sidelined due to a left quad strain — the Mavs were also without Kyrie Irving (right heel contusion), center Dereck Lively II (left ankle sprain), guard Dante Exum (left lower leg contusion), guard Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and forward lineup Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation). But it all starts with the ultra-power Doncic creates and the tons of attention he gets from opposing defenses.

“Again, we’re short-handed,” coach Jason Kidd said. “And it just puts things in perspective of how important Luka is to the team and the things that he creates for everyone.”

With all the injuries the Mavs have been saddled with, rookie guard Dexter Dennis was able to get some playing time and showcase his talents. One of the Mavs’ two-way players, Dennis collected a career-high 18 points in just 17 minutes.

Still, Dennis knows with Luka in the lineup, things will be much, much better for him and his teammates.

“Luka is Luka,” Dennis said. “He’s really, really a special talent. He draws a lot of attention. I think us being able to play off of that, I think that’s how it really, really works well together.

“When you don’t have that, the defense is a little different. We’ve got one guy who’s got possibly 10 eyes on him – 12 including the other team’s coach – so it’s like everybody’s paying attention to him and that’s what we kind of feed off of.”

PROSPER HAD A CAREER NIGHT: Olivier-Maxence Prosper had a career night on Friday. Not only did the rookie forward from Marquette pour in a career-high 20 points on 6-of-13 shots. But he also grabbed six rebounds while playing a career-high 30 minutes.

DENNIS THE MENANCE: Dexter Dennis showed that he’s ready for big-time basketball. One of the Mavs’ two-way players, Dennis only used 17 minutes to score a career-high 18 points on a very productive and impressive 8-of-11 shots. Dennis primarily received significant playing time because of a slew of injuries to the Mavs.

SENGUN WAS DOMINANT: Rockets center Alperen Sengun was a dominant force inside the paint as he finished with game highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds in just 25 minutes. Sengun was a solid 8-of-12 from the field and also helped the Rockets enjoy a 63-47 advantage on the boards.

X: @DwainPrice