Mavs vs. Rockets Preview: Can Luka Doncic Power Dallas to 5th Straight Win?
As the Dallas Mavericks prepare to take on the Houston Rockets at American Airlines Center on Thursday night to end their three-game homestand, one thing is for sure – it's going to be really hard for Luka Doncic to top what he did on Tuesday against the New York Knicks.
From listing the multiple records that were broken ... to recapping NBA Twitter's reactions ... to Doncic getting back in the driver's seat when it comes to the MVP race, DallasBasketball.com has you covered from all angles of the historic event.
Now the Mavs will try to avoid a letdown against the worst-in-the-West Rockets. The Mavs and Rockets have split their regular-season series so far, 1-1. Houston won the first matchup 101-92 with Doncic getting the night off to rest. Dallas won the second game 112-106 less than a week ago with Doncic exploding for 50 points.
Although the Mavs are squeaking by inferior opponents lately instead of blowing the doors off of them, a win is a win – especially when considering how many injuries Dallas is dealing with right now. What Doncic is doing likely isn't sustainable, and the Mavs might be in for a rude awakening when the schedule gets tougher in January ... but for now, they'll just take this thing one game at a time until their key contributors return.
The Mavs will be going for their fifth consecutive win on Thursday night, which would be the longest win streak of the season. The last time Dallas was on a four-game win streak was from Oct. 30 through Nov. 7.
As of the 11:30 p.m. CT injury report posted by the NBA on Wednesday night, the Mavs will still be without Josh Green (elbow sprain), Dorian Finney-Smith (adductor strain) and Maxi Kleber (hamstring tear). Reggie Bullock is listed as questionable with a non-Covid illness. Doncic did not show up on the injury report, meaning he should be ready to go for this one after putting on a historic show on Tuesday.
Here's everything else you need to know about Thursday's game against the Rockets.
FUN FACT: As mentioned above, the last time the Mavs played the Rockets on Dec. 23, Doncic started his current three-game scoring tear by putting up 50 points in a 112-106 road win. Doncic is averaging 47.3 points, 12.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists over his last three outings, which no other NBA player has ever done in a three-game stretch before.
RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (19-16), Houston Rockets (10-24)
WHEN: Thursday, December 29, 2022 – 7:30 p.m. CT
WHERE: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)
TV: Bally Sports Southwest, NBA League Pass
RADIO: 97.1 The Freak, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
ODDS: The Mavs are 11.5-point favorites over the Rockets
NEXT UP: Dallas hits the road for a quick trip to San Antonio to take on the Spurs Saturday night on New Year's Eve. If things go the way the Mavs want them to go on Thursday, they'll be playing the Spurs for the chance to ride a six-game win streak into 2023.
MAVS STEP BACK: Catch up on the latest episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast. It's an extra-special one, as we recap Doncic's historic night against the Knicks. We also dish on Christian Wood's uptick on the defensive end and touch on a trade rumor involving the Mavs and the Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine.
FINAL WORD: “I don’t think he gets tired when it comes to competing,” coach Jason Kidd said after Doncic's monster night. “Now when it comes to practice...”
Hopefully Doncic got his "recovery beer" and a full day off from practice on Wednesday in preparation for tonight's game against the Rockets. As injury-riddled as the Mavs are, they can't afford for Doncic to miss a game if he's healthy and it's not on the second night of a back-to-back.
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