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Final: Mavs 128, Rockets 108

  • The offense was rolling in this game to a degree which we haven’t seen very often this season, or even in years. Dallas poured in 128 points tonight, tying for the most the club’s scored away from home since April 1, 2015. The Mavs had a 133.3 offensive rating in this game, per NBA Stats, their highest in more than three years. Dallas hit 17 out of 34 3-pointers and hit a ridiculous 24 out of 31 shots in the restricted area. Those are all absurd numbers, and they go to show you how much force this team played with tonight. Don’t forget that the Mavs lost their first seven games away from home this season, so although the Rockets were without superstar point guard Chris Paul, Dallas still did well to win this game. We’re witnessing a sudden change in this team. Gone is the 2-7 start, and it’s been replaced by an 8-2 surge which includes wins against Oklahoma City, Utah, Golden State, Boston, and now Houston in the last three weeks. This is quite the turnaround.

    Upcoming games against the Lakers, Clippers, Blazers, Pelicans, and then Rockets again will further test the Mavs, but they’re in some groove right now and if they keep playing with this level of energy at both ends, this 8-2 run will prove to be more than just a fun few weeks’ worth of basketball.

  • Devin Harris was +29 in this game and scored 20 points, his most as a Maverick since April 2015. He played just 15 minutes. Maxi Kleber was +27, Dwight Powell +26, and J.J. Barea +24 — bringing his personal plus-minus in the last 11 games up to a whopping +126, which is outrageous considering that he’s a backup who rarely surpasses the 20-minute threshold. Harris was the ringleader tonight, at least as a scorer, canning a team-high five 3s in just six attempts.

    Barea, meanwhile, delivered a team-high 12 assists. He now has 111 dimes on the season, which ranks 25th in the NBA despite playing just 356 minutes. The next highest-ranked player in assists who’s played fewer minutes than Barea this season is 53rd-place Tony Parker, who has 76 assists in 338 minutes. Both Barea and Harris put up eye-popping numbers tonight, but their usual stat lines might not jump off the page at you. On a per-minute basis, however, they remain very productive, and obviously their plus-minus numbers indicate that, as far as benches go, they’re perhaps the best and most consistent second unit in the league. Kleber, Powell, and Dorian Finney-Smith all contribute as well, of course, combining tonight for 22 points, four steals, and two blocks, but Barea and Harris are firmly in the driver’s seats of this thing, and they’ve been as reliable as reserves come these past two seasons — with or without Dirk Nowitzki (who should be back soon).

  • Luka Doncic has already made a few special plays, and he’s hit some extremely difficult shots, but this one was one of the best we’ve seen from him.

    And earlier in the game he threw down his loudest dunk as a pro — in this league, at least.

    We’re pretty lucky to get to witness this stuff. Not much else to say. Doncic took a shot under his eye in the third quarter, and by the time the training staff got him patched up, the game was already nearly decided. The benefits of having a ridiculous bench were apparent tonight, as Doncic and DeAndre Jordan each played just 24 minutes, and Wesley Matthews only played 23. Even Harrison Barnes, who practically considers 34 minutes a light night’s work, played only 29 minutes. Dallas had three days off before this game and two days off before that one, so it’s pretty great that they had a relatively small workload tonight as well. That means they should still feel fresh on Friday night, when they’ll need every bit of energy they could muster for LeBron and the Lakers.

  • I’m not sure Dennis Smith Jr. has ever played a better defensive game than he did tonight. Smith was a maniac, sprinting all over the place and constantly finding himself in the middle of scrums on the sideline or even on the ground. Much of his effort led to the kinds of plays which don’t show up in the box score, but fortunately he was able to cap off the evening with a monstrous chase-down block.

    How many other point guards in the league can make that play? Smith is far from a finished product as a basketball player. This is still only the beginning of what he’ll be able to accomplish at this level. And if he continues playing this type of frenzied defense, which seems to be a new development, it will do wonders for not only his career, but also for the Mavs’ success. Smith is a blur in transition and once he gets a step on his defender he is virtually unstoppable. He turns stops into buckets quicker than most players you’ll find in this league. Fun offense starts with good defense, and Smith is beginning to realize the extent of his own powers.


    What’s Next

    The over-.500 Mavs (10-9) will play LeBron James and the Lakers on Friday. Tipoff is at 9:30 p.m.

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