The Dallas Mavericks pulled off a thrilling 147-136 overtime win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday and toward the end of the contest, Luka Doncic could be seen having some words with Rockets head coach Ime Udoka. In his postgame press conference, Doncic was asked about that interaction.
"He was talking to me in the first game there, so, you know, I'm going to go back."
If you talk trash to Doncic, you better believe he is going to give it back to you. The Phoenix Suns and Devin Booker infamously found that out the hard way in the 2022 playoffs.
Doncic, who had 37 points, 9 rebounds, 12 assists, and 2 blocks in the game, wasn't interested in disclosing what he said to Udoka, though. The Rockets' head coach was also asked about the interaction in his press conference and had a hilarious response.
"I don't understand Slovenian so I don't know."
Even if it was in English, Udoka was not going to bother disclosing what was said there, especially after a loss like that. The Rockets seemed set to finally return to winning ways when they led 129-126 with less than 10 seconds remaining and with Jabari Smith Jr. at the free-throw line.
Smith shockingly missed both of his free throws, though, which gave the Mavericks a chance to tie things up. Dante Exum drilled a three at the buzzer to send the game to overtime and Dallas dominated in the extra period.
The Rockets dropped to 38-40 on the season with that defeat and got eliminated from contention for the NBA Play-In Tournament. The Rockets had won 11 games in a row to get within touching distance of that 10th spot but followed it up by losing five straight.
With how bad the last few seasons have been, the Rockets certainly took some steps in the right direction in 2023-24. They would be disappointed to have ended the campaign in this fashion, but they ended up performing much better than many imagined.
Kyrie Irving On His Partnership With Luka Doncic
As for the Mavericks, they continue to shine. After a bit of a dip post the All-Star break, Dallas has been on a roll, with Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the way. After this win, Irving spoke on his synergy with Doncic.
"We work so hard and we take on so much of the pressure ourselves. We want to be successful and I think it spills over to our teammates. And they can feel that mentality and it wears off on them."
While Doncic had a big night, Irving was the star of the show against the Rockets, as he had 48 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. With these two playing ever so well, the Mavericks have now won 14 of their last 16 games to improve to 48-30 on the season.
They are now almost certain to finish as the fourth or the fifth seed, after missing even the NBA Play-In Tournament last season. The question now is just how far can this team go. Unless something drastic happens, the Mavericks are going to be up against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round.
The Clippers have somewhat steadied the ship now after hitting a rough patch, but I would back the Mavericks to get past them. At this point, the only team in the West that I don't think they can beat over a seven-game series is the Denver Nuggets. If someone else takes out the Nuggets, even an improbable Finals run might be on the cards here.
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