Dallas Without Doncic, Lost to Western Lowest Houston
Dallas Mavericks without Luka Doncic were weak.
Dallas lost 92-101 to the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on the 16th.
It wasn’t normal power. Doncic was left out for a break, and Maxi Cleaver, who served as the centerpiece of the Sackon unit, was also absent due to injury.
Dallas, without the main scorer, had a neck-and-neck race with Houston, the lowest in the Western Conference. No one on both sides could run away by more than 10 points and played a seesaw game in which they exchanged leads.
The colors of the two teams were clear. Dallas overwhelmed his opponent in an outside attack. Several players took turns targeting the outskirts, led by Tim Hardaway Jr.
Houston clearly had the upper hand under the net with center Alfien Sen. He overwhelmed his opponent in the paint zone.
In the fourth quarter, Houston first reached an advantageous position. While Dallas was struggling with shooting difficulties, Javari Smith Jr.’s consecutive scores and Sen’s score led to 90-83 with 6:14 left, widening the gap the most in the fourth quarter.
Dallas tried to change the mood by successfully defending, but failed to narrow the gap. Pakundo Campazo, who took the opportunity due to Doncic’s absence, attempted a series of three-point shots, but turned a blind eye to Lim. Campazo, who took the opportunity for the first time in a while, played hard with five assists and three steals, but it was not enough to erase Doncic’s absence.
Spencer Dinwiddy, a better ball handler, was put in, but the gap was not easily narrowed due to poor shooting and turnovers. As time went by, my mind became more urgent and I relied on the outside-oriented attack, but I couldn’t easily open the goal. Rather, the gap widened as Kevin Potter Jr. and Eric Gordon were hit by three-point shots.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 28 points and Christian Wood scored 26 points, but the rest of the players’ performance was disappointing. He threw 102 shots and played a close game, but his success rate was only 30.4%.
Houston led 46-32 in the paint zone and scored 19 block shots to completely overwhelm their opponents under the net. Seven players scored double-digit points, including Kevin Potter Jr. and Jaelen Green’s two guards scoring 17 points side by side.
