'Wake Up!': Finney-Smith Speaks Up, Mavs Avoid 'Dangerous' Letdown

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Houston Rockets without Luka Doncic in the lineup on Wednesday night.

With Luka Doncic sidelined, the Dallas Mavericks knew they wouldn't be able to look past a young and energetic Houston Rockets team on Wednesday if they wanted to come out on top. Dallas came out and took care of business, winning the game 110-91 and the regular season series vs. Houston 4-0.

With Spencer Dinwiddie (26 points) and Jalen Brunson (28 points) leading the charge, the Mavericks avoided experiencing a disappointing letdown loss to a team that possesses the worst record in the NBA. 

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Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith after play vs. Houston Rockets

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Dallas Mavericks' Spencer Dinwiddie & Frank Ntilikina after play vs. Houston Rockets

“I thought tonight was one of those games where, Houston is dangerous,” said coach Jason Kidd. “Against Oklahoma City [on Feb. 2], we ended up with a loss, and we talked about that before the game and how things kind of come back to us, and we’re sitting in the same seat.

“It’s hard to beat a team four times. We accomplished that tonight, but we talked about things that have happened to us. The challenges, the things that we have gotten better at, and this group listened and they executed, and we found a way to win.”

After establishing a four-point lead through the first quarter, the Mavericks experienced slippage in their level of play before halftime. The Rockets put 32 points on the board in the second quarter to take a 53-52 lead at the break. 

The Mavericks understood that a higher energy level was needed to finish out the game. The communication on defense had diminished in the first half, and without Doncic playing, the Mavs didn't have the same kind of jolt his electric play tends to provide to his teammates.

"We talked about the energy," Kidd said. "At halftime, we talked about the communication was a little silent. A lot of times Luka will create that energy [by] shooting the ball or making plays. We had to find that. We did a good job in the second half on both ends."

Dallas Mavericks Star Spencer Dinwiddie 

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Spencer Dinwiddie & Frank Ntilikina

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Dallas Mavericks Forward Dorian Finney-Smith

The Mavericks went on to contain the Rockets to fewer than 20 points in each of the remaining two quarters. Houston ended up shooting just 11-38 (28.9 percent) from the floor and 2-16 (12.5 percent) on 3s with 12 turnovers during the second half. 

One player who received a lot of credit for inspiring the shorthanded Mavericks' turnaround was Dorian Finney-Smith, who doesn't usually speak up often unless it's to bark at an opposing team's bench. But in this game, Finney-Smith asserted himself in the locker room to get his teammates on the right track again.

“(Finney-Smith) is a man of few words, so when he speaks he’s holding a lot of weight to that,” Brunson said of Finney-Smith's halftime motivation. “He basically was just telling us to wake up.

“That team over there is hard-playing and they’re young, so you can’t really look at their record. They’re NBA players, too. They get paid to play basketball, too, so he was just basically telling us to wake up and play together and stick together, and that’s what we did.”

The Mavericks have now won their four previous games played without Doncic in the lineup, which is a feat that would've seemed unfathomable a few months ago. Doncic will be back for Friday's important matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves as Dallas works towards locking up a playoff spot.