Alperen Sengun paired 26 points with 11 rebounds, Amen Thompson chipped in 27 points, and the Houston Rockets fended off the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 110-102 on Monday.
Sengun helped the Rockets get late separation with a pair of free throws and a spinning eight-footer down the stretch. His pass to Josh Okogie yielded two free throws with 1:01 remaining that helped the Rockets extend to a 107-102 lead and seal a fourth straight win.
Sengun added a team-high six assists to his ledger. Kevin Durant scored 21 points and overcame an off-shooting night with back-to-back 3-pointers that resulted in a late 99-94 lead.
Behind P.J. Washington, the Mavericks rallied back. His three-point play knotted the score at 99-99 with 3:58 left, and with D’Angelo Russell (10 points, 12 assists) orchestrating the offense, the Mavericks remained in the fight despite playing without Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II.
Washington posted 29 points and 12 rebounds and torched the Rockets’ zone defense. Max Christie tallied 17 points, and rookie Cooper Flagg added 12 points and five boards for the Mavericks. Dallas surrendered 18 second-chance points and was outrebounded 54-40.
Flagg enjoyed a hot start and made his first four shots for nine points before misfiring on a corner 3. Dallas led 28-24 entering the second, thanks in large part to the Rockets’ poor shooting. Houston missed 7 of 8 3-pointers and shot just 37.5% overall in the opening period, with the tide turning in the second after the Rockets started asserting their will on the boards.
The Rockets scored 10 second-chance points in the second and rode the interior scoring of Thompson to a 58-55 halftime lead. But while Thompson tallied 20 points in the first half, Durant and Sengun combined to shoot only 8 of 23 from the floor, including 0 for 7 from behind the arc.
Washington and Flagg totaled 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting by the break, and the undersized Mavericks played the Rockets to a critical 34-34 standstill in paint points before the intermission.
