Key Stats: Mavericks vs. Rockets, 108-102

The Mavericks lost to the Rockets 108-102 on Thursday night. They came to the post in the first quarter crowded and outnumbered and did not recover from their initial defeat in time. A furious comeback in the fourth quarter failed, and after five games the team is now 3-2.

Here are some notable numbers from the loss.

3: Number of Mavericks in foul trouble

5:33 minutes before the end of the third quarter, Luka Doncic received his fourth foul. That got him immediately substituted, as did Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford's fourth fouls early in the quarter. The Mavericks trailed by just 13 points at the end of the first quarter and were up 15 points when the first of the three, Gafford, picked up the foul that kept him out for the rest of the third quarter. The Mavericks were barely treading water, and right after that the floodgates opened, losing as many as 23 players. Things could have been even worse had it not been for the second value on this list.

Now the entirety of their struggles cannot be attributed to just one thing. The numbers don't lie, however, and this game seemed to take a turn for the worse as the Mavericks' best player, the starting center, and the backup center all had to sit on the bench for extended periods of time. The only thing that stopped this…

28: Points from Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving's play was probably the only reason this game wasn't over immediately. From the aforementioned 5:33 mark until 11:34 of the fourth minute, Kyrie kept the team afloat. He scored 13 points, went 3 of 3 from deep, shot a pair from the stripe and had a really nice jumper from mid-range to beat the buzzer in the third quarter.

That was the spark the Mavericks needed and made the game a great game again. In fact, his spurt was the start of a 41-18 stretch for the Mavericks, from 5:33 to 1:08 of the fourth period, when Luka drained his final three of the game. Unfortunately it was too little, too late.

4 of 17: Mavericks 3-point shot in the third quarter

The Mavericks finished 10 of 30 from three-point range, and it's safe to say they made the most of their opportunities in the fourth quarter. That doesn't change the fact that they shot poorly before the fourth round. It also doesn't change the fact that all four of those makes came before Kyrie's fourth, so the rest of the team was a combined 0 of 13 going into the final quarter.

I'm not the type of person to get stuck in the past, but maybe the game would have ended differently if we had at least had a few more threes. Whether it's due to the skill or luck of the shooter or the type of three-pointers made in the game, this percentage needs to be increased. This is especially true in a close game that was lost by six points.

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