Dallas Basketball

Dallas Mavs HOT Reactions: Luka Doncic Torches Houston Rockets; Thoughts on Mark Cuban Majority Stake Sale

Tuesday was a wild day for Dallas Mavericks news with Mark Cuban reportedly selling a majority stake of the team and Luka Doncic putting a 40-piece on the Houston Rockets’ stingy defense.

Dalton Trigg

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It has been a whirlwind for the Dallas Mavericks over the last 24 hours, as news broke about Mark Cuban selling a majority stake of the team to the casino tycoon Adelson family, and then that news was immediately followed by Luka Doncic putting up 41 points, nine rebounds and nine assists with zero turnovers in a 121-115 win over the Houston Rockets.

On today’s episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, we cover all of this at length, trying to make sense of Cuban’s decision while also giving a full recap of the Mavs’ win that now has them sitting at third in the West with a 11-6 record.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, Dillon Brooks, Houston Rockets
Luka Doncic drives on Dillon Brooks / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Not only did Doncic put up 41 points with no turnovers, but he did so efficiently by shooting 15-29 from the field and breaking out of a personal mini-slump he had been in for the previous six games. Dallas improved to 3-0 when Doncic doesn’t turn the ball over.

Rookie center Dereck Lively II, who has been a godsend for the Mavs this season, returned from a one-game absence due to a back contusion he suffered against the Los Angeles Lakers last week. Despite having some highly-questionable calls go against him early in the game, which led to him being in foul trouble, Lively finished with eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 28 minutes while shooting 4-4 from the field.

Luka Shreds Rockets' NBA-Best Defense with 41 Points in Mavs' Win

“Being able to change shots [was impactful]. I thought he did an incredible job on the offensive boards, giving us second or third opportunities there,” Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said of Lively’s return.

“There in the fourth, rim-running, understanding a lot of teams will slow it down. We were talking about how we have to get our pace higher. Kai [Kyrie Irving] found him for an easy lob. Those things will go unnoticed of his hustle. And I thought he did a pretty good job defensively. [Alperen] Sengun is a very good player to have 31 points, but I thought he made him work. We missed him [Lively] the other day in L.A. I thought today he was really good, bounce back game, especially coming back from that injury.”

Lively is only 19 years old and still has a lot of room to grow going forward, but he has also become the most important Maverick not named Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving. The Mavs are 0-2 when Lively hasn’t been able to play this season.

Speaking of Irving, the eight-time All-Star started off slow with just five first-half points, but put up 22 in the second half and finished with 27 while shooting just 8-22 overall. Irving was a perfect 9-9 from the free-throw line, though, and he also dished out five assists — two of them being alley-oops to Lively.

You can watch and listen to the full segment below, and be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts! You can also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts for a chance to win future giveaways.

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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

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