'We Will Learn From This': Mavs Prove Vulnerable Without Luka Doncic
On Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks fell to the lowly Houston Rockets, 101-92, dropping their record to 8-6 on the season.
The Mavs were without Luka Doncic, who sat out the second night of the team's back-to-back due to rest, which, in turn, bumped Josh Green into the starting lineup.
Without Doncic, the starting lineup was flat, and the scoring was hard to come by, as it combined for just 27 points. It was the lowest total for a starting lineup so far this season in the entire league, per ESPN Stats and Info.
Luckily, Christian Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr. came to play off the bench in order to keep Dallas from being embarrassed more than it was. The duo scored a combined 54 points, led by Hardaway Jr.'s season-high 28 points four rebounds, and three assists on 10-26 shooting from the floor and 5-14 from 3-point range.
Following the loss, Hardaway Jr. spoke on his team falling to a lesser opponent in the Rockets without Doncic.
"I don't think there's no excuse. We just gotta be better, man. We gotta be better," Hardaway Jr. said. "From start to finish, everyone. It's not an excuse. We have a couple of guys banged up, bruised up. It's always next man up. I think we'll learn from this and keep moving forward."
Wood finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, and three assists on 9-22 shooting, including 2-7 from deep and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He played a season-high 30 minutes against his former team.
Wood was not made available to the media after the game despite him being the Mavs’ second-leading scorer on the night.
The loss to Houston brings concern and relates back to coach Jason Kidd's comments following Tuesday's victory over the Los Angeles Clippers where he stated the obvious — the Mavs “only have two ballhandlers” in Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie. He also said Dallas would give Frank Ntilikina and Facundo Campazzo “a shot before we start talking about somewhere else.”
Against Houston, Ntilikina and Campazzo combined for eight points three rebounds, five assists, and four steals on just 3-of-11 shooting from the field in their increased minutes in Doncic's absence.
Hardaway Jr. was right in saying that Dallas “should've taken care of business” whether Doncic was playing or not, but going forward, it's evident that a third ballhandler is needed.
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