On Sunday night the Dallas Mavericks head to the Toyota Center for a road matchup against the Houston Rockets. The Mavericks clipped the Sacramento Kings. The Rockets earned a big win over the Utah Jazz. The tip is at 7:10 PM ET. Houston opens as a home favorite.

Kyrie Scores 30 in Win

The Mavericks got a late triple from Dante Exum to hold off the Sacramento Kings 107-103 Friday night. Kyrie Irving had 30 points and Luka Doncic added 26. They trailed by 15 in the second half. Fourteen of Irving’s 30 points came in the fourth quarter. 

Dallas rallied from a nine-point deficit to start the fourth quarter, going on a 12-0 run to take its first lead midway through the quarter. Dallas has won 10 of its last 11 games and moved two games ahead of the Kings for the sixth spot in the Western Conference that would avoid the play-in tournament. Sacramento remains in the eighth spot in the West. 

Exum is a former lottery pick a decade ago who was out of the league for a couple of years before signing with the Mavericks in the offseason and reestablished himself as a role player on a deep Dallas team. “Honestly, just even the ball to get to me and to have the trust to pass it is an amazing thing,” Exum told Associated Press reporters. “I think that’s hopefully what’s going to take this team far.” They are 44-29 heading into this contest.

Rockets Win 11th Straight

The surging Houston Rockets earned their 11th consecutive win Friday night, a 101-100 road win over the Utah Jazz. Jalen Green scored 30 of his 34 points in the second half and had nine rebounds. Fred VanVleet had 22 points, Amen Thompson added 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Jabari Smith Jr. finished with 14 points. Houston scored 27 points off 21 Utah turnovers and outscored the Jazz 25-12 in second-chance points. 

The Rockets trailed the entire first half but swung momentum their way during a third-quarter scoring run from Green. He had five of Houston’s first six baskets of the second half to power a 20-7 run.

“You don’t hang your head when it’s not going easy early,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “We were guarding well enough, and we knew the worm would turn as far as the shooting.”

Green has finished with 30 or more points five times in his last eight games. Over the past month, he has averaged 29.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.4 blocks, and 4.3 3-pointers per game, shooting 48.8% from the field and 78.2% from the foul line.