Doncic’s Mavs Win Fifth Straight: 3 Big Takeaways From Rockets Blowout

The Dallas Mavericks (20-16) dominated the Houston Rockets (10-25) on Thursday night to win their fifth consecutive game, 129-114.

Dallas had control of this game for the entire night as Houston's only lead came in the opening minute when they scored the first basket of the game.

Luka Doncic led the way for the Mavs with yet another triple-double — the 54th of his career and league-leading eighth for this season — finishing with 35 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assists, one steal, and two blocks on 11-of-21 shooting from the field.

Christian Wood finished with 21 points, six rebounds, and four blocks in just 21 minutes due to foul trouble. In Wood's absence, Dwight Powell scored 19 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting in 21 minutes off the bench.

Here's the three biggest takeaways from Dallas' fifth straight victory.

Block Party

You are all cordially invited to Christian Wood's block party. In Thursday's victory, Wood blocked four shots in just 21 minutes, tying his season-high.

For a big who has been criticized for his lack of an impact on the defensive end, Wood has brought it over the last handful of games.

In the last eight games, Wood is averaging 2.6 blocks per game with at least two blocks in every game, in which Dallas has won six of those eight games.

Wood looks like he’ll be the starting center going forward, and if this kind of rim protection continues to pair with his consistency on the offensive end of the floor, the Mavericks’ ceiling for this season just got raised by a few feet.

Luka's MVP Argument…

It's as strong as it's ever been as Doncic is looking like a serious MVP candidate alongside the likes of Boston's Jayson Tatum, Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Denver's Nikola Jokic, and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid.

It's a stacked field, and you can make the argument for each one of these top-five candidates in the moment.

Doncic's play as of late, including his historic 60-point, 21-rebound, and 10-assist triple-double on Tuesday against the New York Knicks, has powered the Mavericks to the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.

But with Doncic, the sole importance of his play and availability on the Mavericks is evident. Without No. 77, Dallas would be a bottom-of-the-barrel team looking at a top slot in the draft lottery.

If Doncic can keep up his dominant play, and the Mavericks can creep up into the top four in the West, the MVP award is seriously in play.

Advantageous Schedule

On Dec. 19, the Mavericks lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, falling under .500 at 15-16. Since that loss, Dallas has won five consecutive games against a favorable schedule that contained four teams sitting below .500.

Heading into the New Year, the Mavs have an in-state road trip, visiting the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs before hosting the Boston Celtics and the New Orleans Pelicans at home.

The Mavericks struggled early on in the season against lower-level teams, ending in a handful of disappointing losses, but that script has changed as of late.

If Dallas can keep up their recent play and take care of business against the Rockets and Spurs, the Mavs will head into their matchups against the No. 1 seeds in both conferences in the Celtics and Pelicans on a seven-game winning streak.

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