“ This is a big victory. »Jalen Green can use such a qualifier to describe the success of the Rockets on the Mavs floor. What's more, as he says, against a team ” healthy », without major absence with the exception of those of Maxi Kleber and Dante Exum.
Alternating between victories and defeats since the start of the year, the Texans (3v-2d) signed a benchmark match against the reigning finalists who remained on a convincing success in Minnesota. This night, the Rockets were the first aggressors.
“ We clearly got off to a good start. Our physical dimension and attention to detail were very good from the start “, summarizes Ime Udokawhose team has never been behind in this match. A first big gap in the second quarter, then a second in the third quarter where the visitors were up to 23 points ahead.
What’s next? A serious scare as the locals, led by Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, pushed hard to return to one possession in the final moments. But Jalen Green and his gang, without panicking, held on despite the storm opposite.
Analyzing the Mavs' comeback
“ We are very proud. We wanted to surprise everyone, to show that we are a good team, that we fight hard. We led by 20 points in the third and we let them get back into the game. So we have to look at the images, see how to progress “, soberly blurts out Dillon Brooks.
“ At the start of the fourth quarter, congratulations to the Mavs for making big shots to get back into the game. I think we played very well and it was good to see us resist that and end up with the victory. We sometimes conceded matches like that last year », adds his coach.
The latter describes this success as “ a complete collective effort, with six guys at 10 points or more. Fred (VanVleet) had a tough night, but he really contributed on defense. So it's a complete team victory. »
Ime Udoka considers that it is “ probably our best victory of the year. We lost matches that we should have won. So it was a good barometer for us in terms of testing against a team that was in the final last year and has done pretty well this year so far. »
The Rockets have the opportunity to confirm with a series of three other tests at home, against the Warriors, Knicks and Spurs.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Jalen Green | 4 | 34.5 | 43.2 | 41.3 | 83.3 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 28.8 |
| Alperen Sengun | 4 | 28.4 | 38.6 | 50.0 | 68.8 | 4.3 | 8.3 | 12.5 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 14.8 |
| Fred Vanvleet | 4 | 37.0 | 34.0 | 36.8 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 6.3 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2.8 | 14.8 |
| Jabari Smith, Jr. | 4 | 32.3 | 39.5 | 31.3 | 84.6 | 2.8 | 6.3 | 9.0 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 11.5 |
| Dillon Brooks | 4 | 33.7 | 35.9 | 35.0 | 100.0 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 10.8 |
| Amen Thompson | 4 | 21.1 | 39.1 | 33.3 | 76.9 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 7.5 |
| Cam Whitmore | 4 | 13.6 | 38.7 | 0.0 | 62.5 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 7.3 |
| Tari Eason | 4 | 17.2 | 52.4 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 6.8 |
| Jock Landale | 3 | 10.2 | 63.6 | 100.0 | 75.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 6.0 |
| Steven Adams | 1 | 13.9 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 |
| Nate Williams, Jr. | 1 | 2.2 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Reed Sheppard | 4 | 9.5 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.5 |
| Jae'sean Tate | 1 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Aaron Holiday | 1 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
