Slow start costly in Mavs’ 108-102 loss to Rockets

At halftime of Thursday’s game between the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets, the ManiAACs and D-Town Crew performed a magnificent rendition of Michael Jackson’s Grammy award winning song, Thriller.

Unfortunately for the Mavs, for most of the night this game was anything but a thriller.

The Rockets got way too many easy baskets and too many offensive rebounds, then held off a furious rally by the Mavs before getting out of American Airlines Center with a 108-102 victory.

This was the first of a five-game home stand for the Mavs (3-2) that resumes Sunday at 6:30 p.m. against the Orlando Magic. And the opener was a haunting experience most of the night for the Mavs, who fell behind, 27-15, late in the first quarter, and were swimming upstream the balance of the night.

“That had something to do with (the loss) — the slow start,” coach Jason Kidd said. “But we’ve started slow the whole season.

“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.”

The Mavs were whistled for 27 fouls leading to 27 free-throw attempts for the Rockets, who made 20 of them. Also, Houston won the rebounding battle, 50-37, including an 18-10 advantage on offensive rebounds.

That led to the Rockets outscoring the Mavs in second-chance points, 20-8. Meanwhile, the fouls got the Mavs totally out of rhythm.

“I thought the referees were great,” Kidd said. “It’s us. We’ve got to be better. We’re out here hacking them. 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. We got to be better. The referees did their part tonight – we did not. We’ll watch video tomorrow and get better.”

Luka Dončić (29 points, five rebounds), Kyrie Irving (28 points, eight boards, seven assists) and Klay Thompson (12 points) paced the Mavs. Dončić pointed the finger at himself for the Mavs’ slow start.

“I’ll take the blame, because I’ve got to do better than that,” said Dončić, who was 12-of-25 from the field. “I’ve got to focus and play my game.”

Despite playing some not-so-pretty basketball for over two quarters, the Mavs were in position to pull this one out. After trailing by as many as 23 points, they made things very interesting when they used a 43-24 run, capped by a three-pointer by Dončić, to draw within 100-97 with 2:07 remaining.

Jalen Green stymied the rally when he drilled a three-pointer to pad Houston’s lead to 103-97 with 1:12 left. But Dončić – he scored 15 of the 30 Mavs’ points in the fourth quarter — chopped the Mavs’ deficit back to three (103-100) just five seconds later.

However, Amen Thompson’s baseline jumper increased the Rockets’ lead to 105-100 with 43.8 seconds to go. And following a missed three-pointer by Klay Thompson, Brooks sealed the deal when he drained an 18-footer with 17.9 seconds left to put Houston ahead, 107-100.

“Just put it in perspective, we’re just not playing well in the first quarters as of yet,” Irving said. “And a lot of it can be attributed to the foul calls, too, just being in the bonus early. We’re putting other teams in the bonus early and having to play a different style of game.

“We’ve got to give them one possession (and) one shot and be able to finish possessions. It’s a bit of a frustrating thing to go through when you’re playing 24 seconds of defense and you give up an offensive rebound and they get an easy two. You just got to limit a lot of the easy baskets and play with that physicality.”

The Rockets spread the wealth and had six players score at least 10 points. Green led the way for Houston with 23 points and 12 rebounds, Alperen Sengun collected 17 points and 12 boards, and Dillon Brooks scored 17 points. Also for the Rockets, Tari Eason tallied 15 points, Jabari Smith had 14 points and six rebounds, and Amen Thompson finished with 10 points.

“He was great tonight,” Irving said, referring to Green. “He gave them points when they needed it. I feel like we did a good job the majority of the night on him.”

Rockets coach Ime Udoka said it was important for his team to get out and run with the Mavs, and that’s what they were able to do while racing out to a 45-26 lead with 8:44 left before halftime after a basket inside by Sengun. It was an effective plan, particularly since the Mavs were playing their third game in four days.

In the meantime, it was as if some evil spirits were batting the basketball away from the rim whenever the Mavs attempted a field goal during the first two-and-a-half quarters. While the Rockets were 12-of-21 from the field in the first quarter, the Mavs converted just eight of their 21 shots and trailed, 34-21, after the first 12 minutes.

“I thought we were playing great defense,” Dončić said. “We just got to end possessions.

“In the fourth quarter I kind of felt a little bit like myself. It was a good time for me, but obviously we didn’t get a win, so it wasn’t good enough. I’m just trying to play my game.”

When Dončić drained that three-pointer to get the Mavs within 100-97 of the Rockets, Irving said he got a sense that Dallas was going to be able to secure a victory on a night when they weren’t exactly at their best.

“I feel like anytime in the game, especially when the clock hadn’t hit zeroes yet and we had a great chance to be in a rhythm offensively and we’re getting stops and the fans are getting into it – or when we’re on a roll – just doing the little things for each other, I feel like we have a chance to win,” Irving said. “There’s definitely some lessons that we took from last year that can carry over into this year.

“We just got to right the ship when the energy is not right and just continue to be there for each other.”

It was 57-44 Rockets at halftime, and they stepped on the gas and stretched that lead to 82-59 with 2:23 left in the third quarter following a pair of baskets by Brooks. But the Rockets had to hold on for dear life at the end while staving off the Mavs’ rally.

“They’re well-coached, they are young, they are athletic, and they can score,” Kidd said of the Rockets. “They know how to play. They’re tough. They put a lot of pressure on the defense.”

It was so much pressure that the Rockets led wire-to-wire on a night when the Mavs were just 10-of-30 from three-point range.

“We can’t sit up here and make any excuses,” Irving said. “It’s on the starting five. We’ve got to be better and we’ve got to play with that energy that we need in order to get the other guys to follow suit.”

X: @DwainPrice