3 takeaways from Mavericks’ New Year’s loss to Rockets

The Dallas Mavericks suffered their third straight loss on Wednesday night, falling 110-99 to the Houston Rockets to ring in the new year. These were the concerns of some fans when Luka Doncic went out as Kyrie Irving has not been able to do enough offensively to lift them to some wins. And with a game against the NBA’s top team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas has some problems to solve.

Once again, it was competitive early as it wasn’t until a 13-0 run midway through the second quarter that Houston finally took control of the game. From there, Dallas just could never get within striking range. When the offense got rolling, they couldn’t stop. And when they got a stop, Dallas was ice cold on offense and turned the ball over. It was one of those cyclical games that could have been fixed with a few key things.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s loss.

The Mavericks turned the ball over 20 times Wednesday night, leading to 22 Houston points. The Rockets were intent on trapping Kyrie Irving whenever possible, which is why he attempted just 13 shots and had four turnovers. Klay Thompson (five turnovers), Spencer Dinwiddie (three), Jaden Hardy (three), Maxi Kleber (two) and Daniel Gafford (two) also had multiple turnovers. This now drops the Mavs to around the league average in turnovers per game, a state they have almost always been in the top 10 throughout franchise history. The offense is already tough enough when Luka Doncic is out, but they make it harder on themselves.

Dereck Lively II returned on Wednesday after missing the last three games, but he was on a minute restriction. In 20 minutes, Lively had eight points, six rebounds, six assists, four blocks and four fouls and was +5. Then, when Daniel Gafford came in, he had four points, four rebounds and two fouls while being a -27 in just 11 minutes. Gafford played so poorly in this game that Jason Kidd went to Maxi Kleber at center, who wasn’t much better. Gafford now has a negative +/- in four of the last five games, all of which are losses. And many of these games were also winnable. Being a +/- spotter can be dangerous, but he hasn’t played well recently. It’s getting to the point where the Mavericks could explore trades for him, and it wouldn’t surprise me.

The Mavericks had a ten point lead in the first quarter, but allowed Houston to get back to it by letting them get to the free throw line. The Rockets were in the bonus midway through the quarter, shooting 13 free throws in the first. They would only shoot ten more for the rest of the game. This is why Dereck Lively II needs to get over his dirty issues and why Daniel Gafford needs to be better.

READ MORE: Key Mavericks role player injured in latest loss to Rockets

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