"Picasso when you give him the paint brush, he's going to do something special, and that shot was special." - Coach Kidd on Luka's underhand circus shot
In this battle of Texas, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks easily defeated the Houston Rockets 125-107 at Toyota Center to put a damper on their play-in hopes.
The 25-year-old finished with an amazing 47 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals with 9 three-pointers for the Mavs. Kyrie Irving had 24 points and 7 assists while Dante Exum scored 13 points on 100% shooting off the bench. PJ Washington provided 12 points and Daniel Gafford contributed 6 points with 1 steal and 5 blocks.
Jabari Smith Jr. led the Rockets with 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks with 5 makes from downtown. Fred VanVleet had 10 points with 7 assists while Aaron Holiday scored 16 points off the bench. Cam Whitmore provided 13 bench points but it was a struggle for Jalen Green who shot just 5/15 from the field and totaled 12 points.
Dallas improves to 45-29 with this win and move up to the 5th seed in the West. After fighting most of the season to escape the play-in, the Mavs have now moved into a top 6 seed and has a chance to potentially finish in the top 4 if everything works out.
Regardless if that happens or not, this team is looking good and seems like they will avoid the play-in which is what their goal was. This is now 7 wins in a row and 9-1 over their last 10, and their next matchup will be on Tuesday against the Warriors.
Houston drops to 38-36 with this loss and now sit 2 games behind Golden State for the 10th seed. It was an unfortunate day for the Rockets as they lost and the Dubs won, which increased the gap between the 2 squads for the final play-in spot. This loss snaps an 11-game winning streak and they’ll look to bounce back on Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves to keep their postseason dreams alive.
"Picasso when you give him the paint brush, he's going to do something special, and that shot was special." - Coach Kidd on Luka's underhand circus shot