Rockets fought for their fourth straight win in a nail-biting showdown. Şengün and Thompson's dynamic duo powered them past a tenacious Mavericks squad.
The Houston Rockets grabbed their fourth straight win on Monday night, taking down the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 110–102 at Toyota Center, but it was far from another smooth blowout. It turned into a surprisingly close nail-biter with Dallas holding Houston neck-and-neck for most of the game.
The Mavericks were undermanned without Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, but you wouldn’t have known it from how they opened. Dallas came out sharp, pushed tempo, and actually led most of the first quarter. The Rockets’ offense started ice-cold, going 1-for-8 from the field. Houston looked a little too comfortable after steamrolling their last three opponents — maybe putting too much faith in the Mavs’ 2-5 record and injury list.
Then Amen Thompson flipped the energy. He caught his own missed free throw, dished it to Alperen Şengün, who immediately set him back up for a near-360 dunk that changed the whole vibe in the arena. From there, the two ran 2-man after 2-man. Thompson attacked in transition, and Şengün worked the glass and kept the plays alive. Together, they completely took over.
By halftime, Thompson had 20 points. Şengün was calm and methodical, piling up assists while owning the paint. The Rockets stayed aggressive but controlled, attacking the rim and drawing fouls, like the Rockets do.
In the second half, composure was everything. Houston led by nine before the Mavericks tied it 99-99 with four left. Dallas didn’t back down, with Grant Williams and Dante Exum drowning key threes and pressing hard on defense to keep the Rockets on their toes.
From that 99-99 tie, it could’ve gone either way. Then Durant buried back-to-back threes to swing momentum. Şengün spun through contact for another inside bucket. Josh Okogie calmly hit two clutch free throws with a minute left, and Thompson sealed it with a free throw.
Şengün finished with a double-double (26-11-5), and Thompson posted a season-high 27 points along with five rebounds and four assists. After the game, Thompson summed up their rhythm in one line: “We were just locked in.”
Exum’s rim pressure and Williams’ two-way energy kept Dallas alive well past expectation. Their ball movement and pace forced Houston into tighter rotations than usual, showing this Mavs roster is deeper than that 2-5 record suggests.
Not every win this season will be a blowout- and this one made Houston earn it. The Rockets had to grind and finish the job the hard way. Dallas made them work for every bucket. If anything, this game proved that the Şengün-Thompson duo might just be the key to Houston closing out the tough ones.