Jalen Green had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Alperen Sengun added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets held off a fourth-quarter Dallas rally to beat the Mavericks 108-102 on Thursday night.
The Rockets led by 23 points late in the third quarter before the defending Western Conference champions cut Houston's lead to 103-100 with a minute to play.
Dillon Brooks also had 17 for the Rockets, and Tari Eason scored 15 off the bench for the Rockets, whose reserves outscored the Mavericks’ 33-21.
Luka Doncic led Dallas with 29 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter.
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Kyrie Irving scored 28, and Klay Thompson was the only other Maverick to score in double figures with 12 points.
Takeaways
Mavericks: The center tandem of Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively was plagued by foul trouble. Lively had five and Gafford four through three quarters. They finished with a combined six rebounds as the Rockets outrebounded the Mavericks 50-37 and outscored them 20-8 on second-chance points.
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Rockets: Houston was third in the NBA averaging 94.5 field goal attempts per game prior to Thursday and put up 97 shots. Dallas attempted 85 shots.
Key moment
Doncic sank a 3-pointer with 1:08 left pulling Dallas within three, but Amen Thompson answered for Houston with a fadeaway jumper with 43 seconds remaining.
Key stat
The Mavericks dug too deep of a hole after shooting 2 for 12 on 3-pointers in the first half.
Up next
The Mavericks play the first of a home back-to-back on Sunday against the Magic, and the Rockets begin a three-game homestand on Saturday against the Warriors.
