2 Duds, 2 studs from Mavericks' heartbreaking failed comeback to Rockets

On Thursday night, the Dallas Mavericks battled the Houston Rockets in the first game of their five-game home stretch at the American Airlines Center.

Dallas entered this game coming off a clutch win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road on Tuesday night, and it seemed like they had plenty of momentum after this wild game earlier in the week went down to the wire with one of the powerhouses of the Western Conference.

That did not end up being the case as Dallas got off to a slow start and trailed by 17 points just three minutes into the second quarter. The Mavs cut the lead to 13 points at halftime, but they couldn't get enough consistent firepower late in the game to earn the win.

2 Duds, 2 studs from Mavericks' narrow loss to Rockets

The offense looked extremely stagnant early on, and the all-around contributions that fans saw on Tuesday night were nowhere to be found early in this game. The Mavs cut Houston's lead to three points with just over one minute remaining, but couldn't come away with the win as they lost 108-102.

No one had much going for them outside of a few guys, and Dallas falls to 3-2 with the loss.

Stud - Kyrie Irving

In a game that Luka Doncic wasn't his best for most of the game outside of the fourth quarter, Kyrie Irving stepped up to the plate with a great performance.

Irving finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists while shooting 10-20 from the field and 5-6 from downtown. He was locked in from the opening tip, and his 3-point jumper continues to be automatic through the first five games of the season.

Irving was consistently getting to his spots all over the floor and making the defense pay, and he got some tough buckets early in this game when no one else could.

In the third quarter, when Dallas needed to make a comeback, Irving was arguably the only reliable offensive option as he was getting to the rim and putting it upon himself to help spurt a rally, but no one else could really follow suit. He took this game over, but no one helped him in that aspect until the final 12 minutes.

Dud - Luka Doncic

Entering Thursday night's game against Houston, Doncic was coming off a 24-point game against the Timberwolves, and although he ended up hitting a big shot down the stretch, it wasn't his best game. He shot 10-27 from the field and 1-8 from three, and this shooting slump continued against the Rockets.

Doncic finished with 29 points while shooting 12-25 from the field and 3-7 from downtown, and he didn't look like himself almost right away. He couldn't get anything to go from anywhere on the floor in the first half, and he was settling for some questionable shots early on.

The rust continued into the second half, but he dominated in the fourth quarter. Doncic put the team on his back and hit some incredibly tough shots, but it still wasn't the all-around dominant game that we are used to seeing from him. His foul trouble didn't help either, but it's clear that there is still some rust there from the offseason.

29 points on nearly 50 percent shooting wouldn't warrant a dud for nearly anyone else in the NBA, but his first-half struggles combined with Dallas' horrendous rebounding were two of the reasons that the Mavs got in such a big hole early on.

Doncic took the blame for the team's slow start after the game, and he'll look to bounce back on Sunday against the Orlando Magic.

Stud - Naji Marshall

Naji Marshall has had a slow start to the season offensively over the first week of the season, but his defense has been outstanding. He prides himself in taking the toughest defensive assignments, and he helped seal the game against the Timberwolves with a game-sealing steal on Anthony Edwards.

Marshall had a good second half against the Rockets and ended up finishing with four points, two rebounds, three assists, and one block, and his energy was the best that we've seen from him. He got the crowd going in the fourth quarter, and he was playing the best defense of the night on Jalen Green.

Marshall playing down the stretch with Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and P.J. Washington shows how well he was performing, and he could emerge into one of the most underrated X-factors on the team if he can keep it up.

His full impact doesn't always come up on the stat sheet, and he should be able to get into his full offensive groove over the next month or two.

Dud - P.J. Washington's 3-point shooting

P.J. Washington hasn't been able to get his flow going offensively this season yet, and despite his great defense over the past few games, he hasn't been able to make the same offensive impact that he made during the playoffs last season, especially from downtown.

Washington finished with six points, nine rebounds, three steals, and three blocks, which ended up being a good all-around game, but he shot 0-2 from downtown. He doesn't look as confident in catch-and-shoot situations, and he'll need to gain some confidence and rhythm when taking those shots to emerge into a complete offensive threat.

His scoring in the paint has been a strong point of his play thus far, but he needs to be able to be the same threat from downtown that we saw during the playoffs to be the lethal threat that we know he can be when he's dialed in.

He has shown Mavs fans plenty to be excited about on the defensive end, and his 3-point shooting should be able to rise back up over time. There were some reports indicating that he reworked his jumper over the summer, and it could just take some extra time to get used to if he did indeed make big changes with his mechanics.

Washington's defense was the best on the team against Houston, but some threes are going to have to start consistently falling. Jason Kidd praised Washington's defense after the game, and he is emerging as the team's go-to lockdown defender.

Even though Washington only shot two threes, there seemed to be a decent amount of looks that he passed up.