Rockets Take Their First Loss: Mavericks Rally in the Fourth to Beat Houston 116-111 in the NBA Cup Opener
Houston led 84-76 after three quarters in Dallas. Kyrie Irving scored 35 and Cooper Flagg 33, and the Mavericks won the fourth quarter 40-27 to hand the 5-0 Rockets their first defeat of the season.
DALLAS - The Houston Rockets are unbeaten no longer. The Dallas Mavericks outscored Houston 40-27 in the fourth quarter Friday night to win the NBA Cup group-play opener for both teams, 116-111, at the American Airlines Center - Houston's first loss after a 5-0 start, and a measure of payback for the 128-110 beating the Rockets handed Dallas in the season opener at the Toyota Center on October 21.
Kyrie Irving scored 35 points and Cooper Flagg added 33 points, nine rebounds and six assists on 13-of-19 shooting for Dallas (4-2), and the pair combined for 27 points in the fourth quarter alone. Houston led 84-76 after three quarters - Dallas had taken the first quarter 27-20, Houston answered 31-17 in the second to lead 51-44 at halftime, and Kevin Durant's dunk pushed the Rockets' lead to 71-61 midway through the third - but Irving opened the fourth the way he opened the third, scoring early and often, and Caleb Martin's corner three tied the game at 88 with under nine minutes to play. Dallas never trailed for long after that.
Durant led Houston with 28 points and Jabari Smith Jr. added 22, the same pair who scored 30 apiece in the first meeting. Daniel Gafford scored 16 for Dallas, turned an ankle late, left briefly and returned to make two free throws with 11.3 seconds left that helped close the game. Houston, which came in scoring 123 points a game and shooting better than 51 percent, grabbed 20 offensive rebounds but could not hold the lead in the fourth.
The loss drops Houston to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in West Group A of the NBA Cup, the tournament's fourth edition, which opened Friday with 10 group games league-wide. The Rockets have no time to sit with it: they play the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday, hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Toyota Center at 7:30 p.m. CT. Alperen Sengun's status remained uncertain in the postgame reporting read by the desk Friday night.
