The Mavericks’ 116-106 win over the Rockets ended just as many expected.
With a double-digit lead in hand, Luka Doncic basked in the sold-out crowd’s applause as the clock ran down to the final seconds.
But the couple hours that preceded the home-opening victory — as the Mavericks had to fight through another halftime deficit and Kristaps Prozingis appeared on another injury report — prompted more uncertainty about their disjointed offense, lineups and roles.
Well, not about everyone’s.
Luka Doncic tallied 26 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to help the Mavericks win a second consecutive game — and score their highest final total — as they continue to acclimate to new head coach Jason Kidd’s systems.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Mavericks announced Kristaps Porzingis was doubtful to return with lower back tightness, the same injury designation that caused the 26-year-old center to miss three games last February after the Mavericks’ pseudo bye week because of severe winter weather.
Porzingis didn’t play again — finishing with nine points, three rebounds and one assist while shooting 2 of 10 from the field in 19 minutes — but he watched the final period from the Mavericks’ bench, standing to clap at pivotal moments and during timeouts.
He had a first-row view of the Mavericks’ closing lineup of Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell staving off the rebuilding Rockets’ upset threat.
Dallas outscored Houston 25-18 in the final period while shooting 46.2% from the field.
That meant Kidd, who knew the Mavericks’ recent home history, didn’t repeat a letdown in his official American Airlines Center debut as the franchise’s NBA champion-turned-head coach.
Kidd knew the team had struggled in former coach Rick Carlisle’s last two seasons to win consistently at home and against draft lottery-bound teams.
Last year, the Mavericks’ won no more games at home (20) than on the road (20) and lost in American Airlines Center to a handful of slumping franchises, including the Bulls, the Rockets and the Kings — twice.
But Kidd’s version of the Mavericks looked no more steady or dominant from the start Tuesday.
The Rockets led for all but a few possessions of the first quarter and early in the second stretched their advantage to seven.
As the Mavericks stumbled through possessions, Rockets coach Stephen Silas, Dallas’ offensive coordinator during their record-setting 2019-20 season, had his team shooting hot from three.
The Rockets finished the first half shooting 11 of 24 (45.8%) from three. The Mavericks: 6 of 21 (28.6%).
“I think that’s one of the areas [of focus] — can we protect home? — if you want to have homecourt in the playoffs as a goal,” Kidd said. “No matter what the record is, you have to respect your opponent on any given night. We have to play Mavs basketball no matter if it’s the best team or the team that has the worst record. We can’t play to the record.
“It’s the journey of growth — mental growth and being able to not play down to the competition because of the record. There’s too many talented players who can beat you on any night, no matter what their record is, for a team that’s won two games or a team that’s won 50 games.”
Perhaps Kidd reminded his team of that at halftime.
The Mavericks started the third quarter on a 16-2 run and continued to experiment with lineups.
Kidd had inserted Boban Marjanovic for his first minutes of the season after the first timeout of the game in hopes of countering the Rockets’ two-big man lineup with Marjanovic’s 7-4 threat for putbacks and no-need-to-jump layups.
That foreshadowed the Mavericks’ reach to the end of the bench midway through the third quarter, when Moses Brown and Frank Ntilikina debuted with Dallas.
All 15 active Mavericks took the court by the 3:20 mark of the third quarter.
