Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic nets 26 in home loss to Rockets

The Dallas Mavericks returned home to face the Houston Rockets on the second night of a back-to-back set on Jan. 23. Superstar Luka Doncic was fresh off dropping 36 points on the Spurs. The Mavs had won two straight games heading into Saturday’s showdown with their division rival.

Dallas decided to rest Kristaps Porzingis after facing a brutal stretch of games. The Mavericks were playing their seventh game since Jan. 13. KP played in both ends of a back-to-back already this week, so the Mavs wanted to be cautious against the Rockets.

Luka had an outstanding performance, but it was not enough as the Rockets dominated the game. Let us take a look at his best plays from Jan. 23.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic dropped 26 against the Rockets

Doncic had it locked in even before tipoff. Check out his warmup half-court shot below.

The Rockets came out strong, but Luka was still making plays. He found Willie Cauley-Stein for an alley-oop in the first quarter.

Doncic had 11 points, two rebounds, and three assists in the opening period. Houston held an 11-point lead after dropping 38 points on the Mavericks in the first 12 minutes on Saturday evening.

The Rockets stretched the lead to 14 by the time Luka returned with 6:12 left in the second. He showed off his shooting range on Jan. 23.

Doncic finished the first half with 20 points, three rebounds, four assists, and one block. He shot seven of 13 from the field, but the Mavericks trailed by 11. The Rockets were shooting 54.3 percent and made ten 3-pointers in the first 24 minutes.

Things went from bad to worse in the third quarter. Doncic scored six points and dished out four dimes, but Houston pushed their lead to 21 points by the end of the period. The Mavs were four of 19 from 3-point range after 36 minutes, and the Rockets seemingly could not miss.

Things did not change in the final period as Houston secured the blowout victory on Jan. 23.

Luka Doncic finished with 26 points, five rebounds, and eight assists without playing a second in the fourth quarter in the Dallas Mavericks blowout loss on their home floor. The 21-year-old superstar will be looking to get his team back in the win column on Monday night as they face the Denver Nuggets. Fans will not want to miss it, so stay tuned.