{"id":79045,"date":"2025-12-07T05:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T05:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/79045\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T05:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T05:56:10","slug":"mavericks-speed-past-rockets-as-anthony-davis-stars-pj-washington-returns-from-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/79045\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavericks speed past Rockets as Anthony Davis stars, PJ Washington returns from injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just one night after they were outclassed by the reigning defending champions<\/a>, the Mavericks took a significant step in the right direction with Saturday\u2019s quick turnaround against the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n

A tightly contested game broke open in the third quarter when the Mavericks<\/a> went on a 33-9 run powered by their defense, which led to a plethora of easy baskets in transition. Cooper Flagg<\/a>\u2019s vicious one-handed dunk solidified a 122-109 win over the Rockets. The rookie forward flexed toward the bench to celebrate another feisty dunk and another impressive win for the Mavericks.<\/p>\n

Anthony Davis<\/a> regained his All-Star form after an uncharacteristic showing in Friday\u2019s lopsided loss in Oklahoma City. The Mavericks big man scored a team-high 29 points with eight rebounds, taking advantage of a shorthanded Rockets team.<\/p>\n

Mavericks<\/p>\n

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Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back, but Dallas proved to have fresher legs on Saturday, finishing with 28 fast-break points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought our defense was really good tonight,\u201d Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. \u201cBeing able to rebound the ball and the pace, especially on a back-to-back. Games tend to be a little slower, but I thought the guys did a great job of the pace, getting deflections and steals and being able to turn them into points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis, who scored a season-low two points Friday, was one of the driving forces in the Mavericks\u2019 dominant third quarter, when they outscored Houston 37-20 to break open the game. <\/p>\n

Naji Marshall, who remained in the starting lineup despite PJ Washington\u2019s return, punctuated the period with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that brought fans in American Airlines Center to their feet.<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t much time for the Mavericks, nor Davis, to dwell on their disappointing loss to the Thunder. Instead, it was an opportunity to seize the moment, since Houston played without All-Star big man Alperen Sengun, who missed Saturday\u2019s game with an illness.<\/p>\n

Brandon Williams was the unsung hero of Saturday\u2019s game. He tied a season-high 20 points and five assists while providing a scoring boost off the bench, which was vital in the absence of Klay Thompson, who missed the game with left knee soreness. <\/p>\n

Williams was a force with his drives downhill, exemplified by his forceful one-handed dunk late in the second quarter. His midrange shooting was also an added bonus.<\/p>\n

Flagg added 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. Marshall finished with 15 points. Ryan Nembhard continued his consistent run<\/a> of productivity with 11 points and seven assists.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks had a three-play sequence in the third quarter that included a transition dunk by Davis and two slams by Washington, who celebrated his much-needed return with a passionate scream. Washington missed four games because of a right ankle sprain and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and tied a career high with five steals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt great,\u201d Washington said. \u201cJust super excited to be out there with my guys and get a win. It\u2019s been a long four games for me, but I\u2019m just happy to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant, fresh off eclipsing 31,000 points in Friday\u2019s win over Phoenix, picked up where he left off and led the Rockets with 27 points on 11 of 20 shooting. Jabari Smith Jr. added 22 points and eight rebounds. Aaron Holiday had 19 points off the bench.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks hosted a special guest for Saturday\u2019s game against the Rockets. Dirk Nowitzki made his first public appearance at American Airlines Center since April 9, when Luka Doncic played against his former team for the first time since he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

After a quality win Saturday, the Mavericks will receive a much-needed reprieve of five days before their next game on Friday, when they host the five-win Brooklyn Nets at AAC.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Former Maverick Luka Doncic announces birth of second child with fianc\u00e9e Anamaria Goltes<\/a><\/p>\n

Doncic, who had been away from the Lakers for personal reasons, was reportedly back in his hometown in Slovenia to be there for his child\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Mavericks\u2019 3-game win streak snapped with lopsided loss to Thunder<\/a><\/p>\n

A difficult night for Dallas\u2019 Anthony Davis contributed to a 132-111 loss to defending champion Oklahoma City on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just one night after they were outclassed by the reigning defending champions, the Mavericks took a significant step…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2485,4643,4642,102,104,2582,103,2868,4281,3080,154],"class_list":["post-79045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-american-airlines-center","tag-anthony-davis","tag-cooper-flagg","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-dallas-news","tag-dirk-nowitzki","tag-mavericks","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}