Mavericks beat Rockets in Anthony Davis' Dallas debut, 116-105

Before leaving with an injury, Anthony Davis dazzled in his Dallas debut.

Feb 8, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) looks to pass the ball past Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) during the second quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks returned home for the first time since sending megastar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers before the trade deadline. It was a volatile crowd, as Mavs fans were outside of the American Airlines Center hours before the game protesting the trade.

The division and in-state rival Houston Rockets would be the opponents for this matchup, entering the game on a five-game losing streak. Anthony Davis made his Mavericks debut in this game, so Dallas was only missing Dereck Lively II, Dwight Powell, and Caleb Martin, while Houston was without starters Jabari Smith Jr. and Fred VanVleet.

With those players out, Dallas rolled out their 25th different starting lineup of the season: Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Anthony Davis, and Daniel Gafford, while Houston started Jalen green, Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Tari Eason, and Alperen Sengun.

READ MORE: Anthony Davis scores first basket as a Maverick in impressive first quarter vs. Rockets

Anthony Davis got the first touch of the game and was double-teamed immediately, but he turned and found Daniel Gafford open for the lob at the basket. Then Davis blocked a layup by Alperen Sengun and found PJ Washington running up the floor for a dunk. Davis would then get his first points as a Mavericks on a post-up against Amen Thompson, who is just too small for that matchup. He'd force a Houston timeout after a putback slam four minutes into the game, and he was already in basically every stat category already with six points, four rebounds, three assists, and a block.

He continued his impressive first quarter as the Mavericks went up by double-digits, using elite interior defense to make life tough on Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun. Naji Marshall entered the game to give them some quick points, as did Max Christie, and Dallas ended the first quarter with a 33-20 lead. Davis had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block by the end of the first quarter.

Dallas started the second quarter with a block by Daniel Gafford, leading to a pull-up transition three by Klay Thompson to ignite the crowd. Kyrie Irving's first point of the game came on a technical free throw, called on Houston's head coach, Ime Udoka. Dallas' defense was just stifling Houston, who missed 15 straight shots to end the first quarter and start the second.

A 12-1 run in the middle of the second quarter, closed off by a lob from Kyrie Irving to Anthony Davis, helped extend Dallas' first-half lead to 20 and force another timeout by Ime Udoka. They continued to play defense at a high level, but Jalen Green and Amen Thompson started to get rolling near the end of the half and make a tiny dent in the lead. Dallas still led 65-48 going into halftime, with Anthony Davis having a first half double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds.

READ MORE: Anthony Davis makes history with monster first-quarter performance in Mavericks' debut

P.J. Washington turned his ankle and would be ruled out for the game during halftime, giving Max Christie a chance with the starters in the second half, as Houston made a chance to roll out lineups with Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams to match the Mavs' size. That lineup helped them on both sides of the floor, as they were able to chip Dallas' lead to nine just a few minutes into the half.

Alperen Sengun scored 11 points in the early portion of the third quarter to bring Dallas' lead down to two. Houston was shooting 7/11 from the floor to start, while Dallas was just 2/10. Houston had a chance to take the lead on a Dillon Brooks three-pointer, but he missed, and Dallas built the lead back up to 10 by the end of the quarter, leading 89-81 entering the fourth quarter. Naji Marshall hitting back-to-back threes helped stabilize the Mavs when the game got close.

Anthony Davis left the game with what looked to be a groin injury just before the end of the third quarter, but Kyrie Irving helped keep Dallas' offense afloat while he was out, scoring six of the Mavs' first eight points of the fourth quarter. That helped the lead stay near ten for the Mavs, but Amen Thompson would clean up a blocked shot to bring Houston within six with six minutes to go.

Max Christie and Naji Marshall scored the next seven points for Dallas with two starters out, helping keep Houston at arm's length, even if the Rockets were getting whatever they wanted with Sengun down low.

Sengun split a pair of free throws, and Jalen Green hit a jumper to bring the lead down to four with just over two minutes to play. Kyrie Irving would hit two free throws, then Irving found Max Christie open for three to push the lead up to nine with 1:38 to go. That would be enough to carry Dallas to a 116-105 victory.

Dallas' defense was the story of the game, setting a team record with 18 blocks in this game. Daniel Gafford had six of those, with PJ Washington and Anthony Davis adding in three each before leaving with injuries. It was also a low-turnover game, as the Mavericks only had five, and the Rockets only had eight. But Dallas also shot an absurdly efficient 12/23 (52.2%) from three compared to Houston's 8/27.

Anthony Davis led the Mavericks in his debut before going out, finishing with a monstrous double-double of 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks. Max Christie was the second leading scorer with 23 points, giving both pieces of the Luka Doncic trade big games, but the injury to Davis will be something worth monitoring over the next week. Naji Marshall (16 points), Kyrie Irving (13 points, 6 assists), Klay Thompson (13 points), and Spencer Dinwiddie also got into double figures.

Alperen Sengun was dynamite in the second half, scoring 25 of his 30 points in the final 24 minutes. He was followed closely by Jalen Green (24 points, 6 assists) and Amen Thompson (20 points, 7 rebounds), the only other Rockets in double figures scoring.

This was the first of four straight home games for the Mavs before the All-Star break. They'll host the Sacramento Kings on Monday.

READ MORE: Anthony Davis suffers non-contact injury during Mavericks-Rockets in Dallas debut

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