On Thursday night, the Dallas Mavericks took on the Houston Rockets with a chance to improve upon their 3-1 start to the new campaign. However, the Mavericks could not overcome a slow start, and in the end, the Rockets held on for a 108-102 victory, warding off a comeback attempt from Luka Doncic and company.
The Rockets came out firing in the first quarter and rode this momentum to a comfortable lead for most of the game until the Mavericks ratcheted up the intensity during thwarted comeback bid. And while it's hard to pin the blame on one man for a team-wide malaise that caused the defeat, Luka Doncic knows that it's his responsibility to set the tempo for his team, and he admitted that he did not do quite as well of a job at it as he would hope.
“That’s on me. I started pretty bad so I’ll take the blame because I gotta do better than that. I know I can do it. I just have to focus and play my game,” Doncic said in his postgame presser, via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
There is no questioning that Doncic is one of the best offensive talents in the association, but he has been playing below expectations through the first five games of the 2024-25 season. He has struggled to get into a rhythm in multiple games, and this was the case once again as the Mavericks fell down by 13 points at the end of the first quarter during their tussle against the Rockets.
Doncic, of course, did not suit up during the preseason, and it's clear that he's still playing his way back into shape. But the sign of a true leader is their ability to take ownership of their mistakes, and the Mavericks star had no qualms about being accountable for his actions in light of their loss on Thursday night.
Luka Doncic, Mavericks continue homestand
The Mavericks' goal in the immediate future is to defend homecourt; losing to the Rockets at American Airlines Center should be a wake-up call that these are games in which they should be feeding off of the energy of their home crowd.
Fortunately for the Mavericks, their next four games will be at home, although none of their upcoming games will be easy. They will be hosting the Orlando Magic next, with the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and Phoenix Suns also paying them a visit over the next week. If anything, the Mavericks should at least go 2-2 in this run of home games, although obviously they would prefer to go 4-0.
Having Luka Doncic motivated should unlock a new gear for the Mavericks even this early in the season. Doncic did have his best game of the season thus far against the Suns — a team he seems to always have something extra in reserve for. During that game, he exploded for 40 points on 12-25 shooting, and there should be more of these games moving forward as he looks to shrug off his lethargic start to the season.
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