The Dallas Mavericks lost 108-102 to the Houston Rockets on Thursday night in Dallas. Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 29 points while Jalen Green led the Mavericks with 23 points. The Mavericks came out again and fought their way to a big deficit.

The Mavericks were frustrated and had various foul trouble, which led to Dwight Powell even having a few minutes to find an answer. Powell helped a little, but the Mavericks just didn’t do enough to win this game.

The Mavericks eventually made a run with some hot shooting from Klay Thompson and Doncic, but it proved too late to make up for the earlier problems. Jalen Green hit a game-winning, contested three-pointer late that canceled out a couple of similar shots from Doncic.

Here are the things you should know.

Luka Doncic has to play better

Doncic is already an all-time great player. He was so good that it would be a great start to the season for most players. His stats even look okay. He didn’t play as well as he can play. He’s been better defensively and in the long run his offense is the least concerning. Right now, this offense is a problem that has cost the team.

The Mavericks need to fight more on the boards

The Mavericks were outrebounded 50-37. The Rockets had 18 offensive rebounds. Teams that have the ambition that the Mavericks have simply can’t be outdone like that. The Mavericks center both offenses as they should. This is the heart of the Mavericks defense. When they are forced to help, the rest of the team has to come together as a team and unpack. So far that hasn’t happened.

PJ Washington continues to do everything but shoot

Washington looks like an NBA 2K player who decided to sacrifice slider points from his shots to improve his defense. He had three steals and blocks today. He also had nine rebounds.

He was 0-of-2 on three-pointers, which reduces him to 6-of-24 this season. He has too long of a shooting track record to give up his shot, but that’s concerning because everything else he does means the Mavericks certainly can’t get him off the floor.

Overall, this was a serious loss. It’s too early to get too excited, but losses like this count just as much as losses in May when it comes to the bottom line at the end of the year.

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