HOUSTON — Luka Doncic had 47 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, Kyrie Irving added 24 points and seven assists, and the Dallas Mavericks won their seventh straight and snapped the Houston Rockets’ 11-game winning streak with a 125-107 victory on Sunday night.
Doncic scored 32 points in the first half on 12-of-18 shooting, going 6 of 10 on 3-pointers, as the Mavs led 66-45. Doncic had 22 in the first quarter alone and finished 18 of 30 from the field, including 9 of 16 on 3s. He tied his career high for 3-pointers.
''When you talk about best player in the world, understanding the time and where we are in the schedule and this road trip, he came out and showed why he's one of the best in the world,'' Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. ''He set the tone offensively. … He put the ball in the basket, was able to read and play the defense we saw tonight. It's up to him to do his job, and he did it at a high level tonight."
Doncic had a highlight reel shot, making an underhand lob from inside the 3-point line as time was expiring on the shot clock early in the third quarter.
''To see him do that, I feel a lot of people got excited, but I think at the same time, that's Luka,'' Kidd said. ''He's always able to make tough shots. He's Picasso. Give him the paintbrush, he's going to do something special. That shot was pretty special.''
Dante Exum scored 13 points and P.J. Washington had 12 points and six rebounds for the Mavericks. Dallas shot 52% and made a season-high 24 3-pointers in 47 attempts (51%).
''We were aggressive,'' Doncic said. ''They switched, so I think me and (Kyrie) went to work. Everybody else was open, so we were able to knock those shots down.''
Dallas tied idle New Orleans for fifth in the Western Conference with eight games remaining for each team.
