Dallas Basketball

'We Will Learn From This': Mavs Prove Vulnerable Without Luka Doncic

The lack of offense for the Dallas Mavericks without Luka Doncic on Wednesday raises questions for Jason Kidd and company.

Michael Mulford

On Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks fell to the lowly Houston Rockets, 101-92, dropping their record to 8-6 on the season.

The Mavs were without Luka Doncic, who sat out the second night of the team's back-to-back due to rest, which, in turn, bumped Josh Green into the starting lineup.

Without Doncic, the starting lineup was flat, and the scoring was hard to come by, as it combined for just 27 points. It was the lowest total for a starting lineup so far this season in the entire league, per ESPN Stats and Info.

Luckily, Christian Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr. came to play off the bench in order to keep Dallas from being embarrassed more than it was. The duo scored a combined 54 points, led by Hardaway Jr.'s season-high 28 points four rebounds, and three assists on 10-26 shooting from the floor and 5-14 from 3-point range.

Following the loss, Hardaway Jr. spoke on his team falling to a lesser opponent in the Rockets without Doncic. 

"I don't think there's no excuse. We just gotta be better, man. We gotta be better," Hardaway Jr. said. "From start to finish, everyone. It's not an excuse. We have a couple of guys banged up, bruised up. It's always next man up. I think we'll learn from this and keep moving forward."

Wood finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, and three assists on 9-22 shooting, including 2-7 from deep and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He played a season-high 30 minutes against his former team.

Wood was not made available to the media after the game despite him being the Mavs’ second-leading scorer on the night.

The loss to Houston brings concern and relates back to coach Jason Kidd's comments following Tuesday's victory over the Los Angeles Clippers where he stated the obvious — the Mavs “only have two ballhandlers” in Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie. He also said Dallas would give Frank Ntilikina and Facundo Campazzo “a shot before we start talking about somewhere else.”

Against Houston, Ntilikina and Campazzo combined for eight points three rebounds, five assists, and four steals on just 3-of-11 shooting from the field in their increased minutes in Doncic's absence.

Hardaway Jr. was right in saying that Dallas “should've taken care of business” whether Doncic was playing or not, but going forward, it's evident that a third ballhandler is needed.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Mavericks? Click Here.

Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Published
Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.

Home/News