The perfect start is over, and of course it had to end in Dallas. The Houston Rockets went 11-of-17 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, missed five in the final 1:53, and lost to the Mavericks 116-111 on Friday night at American Airlines Center in an NBA Cup group-play game.
Kevin Durant led Houston with 28 points and Jabari Smith Jr. added 22, but Kyrie Irving scored 35 and Cooper Flagg had 33 as Dallas won the fourth quarter 40-27. The Rockets fall to 5-1, and the season series with the Mavericks is now tied 1-1.
Durant Dunks on Gafford’s Head
Before the fourth quarter got away, Durant gave Houston the highlight of the night. With 5:02 left in the third, he drove the lane and threw it down right on top of Daniel Gafford for a 71-61 Rockets lead, per the ESPN play-by-play. It was Durant’s only dunk of the night, and it was a loud one.
Houston kept building from there. Amen Thompson finished an alley-oop from Marcus Smart with 33.7 seconds left in the third to push the lead to 84-73, the Rockets’ biggest of the game, and they took an 84-76 edge into the fourth.
How the Fourth Slipped Away
Dallas came out of the break hot. Irving scored 10 points in the first five minutes of the quarter, and a Caleb Martin three tied it at 88 with 7:43 left. Irving’s three-pointer at 7:01 put the Mavericks ahead 91-88, and Houston spent most of the rest of the night chasing.
Fred VanVleet hit a three to tie it at 96 with 4:21 left and a floater to tie it again at 100 with 2:26 to go. Then the free throws started to hurt. Trailing 102-100 after an Irving jumper, Durant went to the line with 1:53 left and missed both. On the next trip down, Flagg hit a floater, drew a foul on Smith and converted the and-one for a 105-100 Dallas lead.
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Durant answered with a pull-up jumper, and after a Gafford putback, he added a free throw and a 16-footer off a VanVleet assist to cut it to 107-105 with 59.9 seconds left. Thompson then picked off a P.J. Washington pass and drew a foul on Irving with 42 seconds left, a chance to tie it. He missed both free throws.
Flagg hit a turnaround jumper to make it 109-105, and Smith buried a 24-foot three off a Thompson feed with 15.8 seconds left to pull Houston within one at 109-108. But Gafford made both free throws with 11.3 seconds left, Irving went 4-for-4 from the line down the stretch, and Dallas held on.
The Numbers Behind It
For the night, Houston shot 24-of-33 from the line and 7-of-29 from three. Durant was 9-of-13 on free throws and Thompson was 1-of-4, while Dallas shot 52% from the field and scored 28 fast-break points to Houston’s 10.
There was plenty to like, too. The Rockets won the glass 48-41, grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, forced 18 Dallas turnovers and had 12 steals, all while playing without Alperen Sengun (back soreness), Reed Sheppard (back) and Steven Adams (calf strain). Tari Eason had 11 points and 13 rebounds, eight of them offensive. Clint Capela had five points, 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks, and Thompson added 15 points, six assists and four steals.
Box Score Leaders
- Kevin Durant: 28 points (9-20 FG, 9-13 FT), 5 rebounds
- Jabari Smith Jr.: 22 points (7-15 FG, 3-7 3PT, 5-5 FT)
- Fred VanVleet: 16 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds
- Amen Thompson: 15 points, 6 assists, 4 steals
- Tari Eason: 11 points, 13 rebounds
- Clint Capela: 5 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks
- Mavericks: Kyrie Irving 35 points, 9 assists; Cooper Flagg 33 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists; Daniel Gafford 18 points (6-7 FG)
Up Next
Losing to Dallas stings, but Houston is still 5-1 and already owns a 128-110 win over the Mavericks from opening night. The schedule doesn’t wait, either: the Rockets are back at Toyota Center Saturday night to face the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7:30 p.m. CT, then host Boston on Monday and Minnesota on Wednesday. Dallas and Houston meet twice more this season, and the Rockets will have a long memory.
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