P..J. Washington had a season-high 29 points and 12 rebounds Monday, but it wasn’t enough as the Houston Rockets continued their winning streak — now at four games — with a 110-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Houston improved to 4-2 on the season while Dallas dropped to 2-5.

The Mavericks played Monday’s game without their two starting big men for the second consecutive game as Dereck Lively II and Anthony Davis both remained out Monday with check-ins for their respective injuries scheduled for Tuesday when the Mavericks return to Dallas. The team struggled to contain the Rockets’ sizeable starting 5, as Alperen Sengun scored 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the win while Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson combined for 48 points.

Cooper Flagg showed improvement in Monday’s contest, scoring 12 points on an efficient 50% from the field and 40% from three, but got less looks in the second half. Flagg shot just four times, including a heave at the end of a game already decided, after getting six shots in the first half. As Dallas mounted their comeback — at one point tying the game late in the fourth quarter — the team ran its offense through D’Angelo Russell, Washington, and Daniel Gafford, who had 14 points in 25 minutes in his second game back from an injury that kept him out of the team’s first five games.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Shooters shoot as Mavericks adapt to new offense

For the second straight game, Dallas rose its season average of three-pointers attempted. Entering Saturday’s game, the Mavericks were attempting just over 28 threes a game, but they’ve shot a combined 81 in the two road games against the Pistons and Rockets.

Their efficiency — 35.6% on 45 attempts Saturday and 25% on 36 attempts Monday — show the shift is a work in progress and may largely be due to the absence of Davis and Lively II, but if Dallas is to make a run at a playoff spot when they get fully healthy, they’re going to need to shoot the ball and these last couple games show a willingness to adapt to that reality.

P.J. Washington, man on a mission

Washington has been one of the lone steady parts of the Mavericks season. His stat-stuffing performance Monday broke a two-game skid scoring under 10 points and looked much more like the Washington who opened the season averaging over 17 points a night on over 50% from the field and over 40% from three.

His defense mixed with his improved ability to drive to the basket and score, while also being able to look for his teammates — his 2.8 assists per game this season would be a career-high — have been invaluable to a Mavericks team struggling to find its identity on both ends of the floor.

D’Angelo Russell is finding his role in Dallas

Just a few games ago, Russell was shut out of the Mavericks offense nearly completely. He played just 15 minutes in the season opener and nine minutes — including none in the second half — in Dallas’ 117-107 loss to the Washington Wizards.

A week later, he’s the team leader on the offensive end.

Since that Washington loss, Russell has averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 assists a night and has been a key player down the stretch in all five games for the Mavericks. Dallas is 2-3 since Russell’s increase in minutes and has been within striking distance in all three losses.

Russell has been a key player keeping the Mavericks afloat as they struggle through the early season injury bug and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him enter the starting lineup soon, especially with an easier stretch of the schedule (next 3: vs 0-6 NOP, @ 3-5 MEM, @ 1-6 WAS) approaching.