The Houston Rockets enter 2023 with eight losses in their last nine games, and the vibes aren’t great at Toyota Center these days, as shown in Saturday’s harsh postgame comments by veteran guard Eric Gordon. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks have won six straight.
In Monday’s final meeting of the 2022-23 season between the in-state divisional rivals, Houston would love to finally change those trends. It’s the third meeting between the Rockets and Mavericks in the past 11 days, and the second at Toyota Center, so both teams should be quite familiar with what the opponent is trying to do.
The Rockets did defeat the Mavericks in November, but that game came when Luka Doncic wasn’t playing. These days, the perennial All-Star guard and MVP candidate is in the middle of a historic stretch as a scorer and playmaker, and he’s led the way with dominant showings in two Dallas wins over Houston since Dec. 23.