Point guard Luka Dončić basically blamed himself for the Dallas Mavericks’ slow start in Thursday’s 108-102 loss to the Houston Rockets.
But coach Jason Kidd wasn’t about to let the five-time All-Star shoulder all the blame in a loss that dropped the Mavs to 3-2.
“It’s not just him, it’s a we,” Kidd said. “He’s one of our leaders and he’s taking responsibility, but I think we have to be better overall.
“We’re getting good looks and they’re not going down for us right now.”
The fact that open and/or easy shots aren’t falling for the Mavs has become a source of frustration. But Kidd said that’s not the way to problem-solve.
“We can’t get frustrated with misses,” he said. “We’re getting in the paint, we’re missing some layups, we’re missing free throws and so I think sometimes we kind of get frustrated. And we’ve got to be a little bit better with positives — our energy re-directed and move on to the next play – and we’ll get there.
“Again, it’s not just Luka. We’re not just shooting the ball straight and that’s a carryover to our defense, and our defense not being able to rebound the ball. Giving up (18) offensive rebounds, that’s tough.”
The Rockets had 50 total rebounds with 18 of them of the offensive variety. The Mavs finished with 37 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive side of the floor.
It all led to the Rockets outscoring the Mavs in second-chance points, 20-8.
The Mavs shot 45.9 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent (10-of-30) from three-point land.
Here are our takeaways from the Mavs’ six-point loss to the Rockets.
GREEN WAS MONEY: Jalen Green was the big producer for the Rockets with team highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds, coupled with a team-high tying four assists. He also buried a clutch three-pointer with 1:12 left that gave the Rockets a 103-97 lead and the pathway to victory. Green was 9-of-21 from the field, including 3-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc.
DONCIC FOUND HIS RHYTHM IN THE FOURTH: Luka Dončić had been struggling to find his shot in the early part of this season. He found it in the fourth quarter Thursday when was 6-of-8 from the field – 3-of-4 from three-point territory – and tallied 15 points. Overall, Dončić scored a game-high 29 points on 12-of-25 shots. He was 3-of-7 from downtown, and also grabbed five rebounds.
TOO MANY FOULS: Coach Jason Kidd pointed out after the game that his team must learn how to stop fouling so much. The Mavs committed 27 fouls Thursday, leading to 27 free throw attempts by the Rockets. “We’re out here hacking them,” Kidd said. “There’s smart fouls and there’s bad fouls, and we got 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.”
X: @DwainPrice
Share and comment