Gordon, Cousins help Rockets cruise past Mavericks
DALLAS (AP) — Eric Gordon scored a season-high 33 points, DeMarcus Cousins had his best game for Houston with 28 points and 17 rebounds and the Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 133-108 on Saturday night.
John Wall had seven points and eight assists after missing five straight games with right knee soreness. It was the first game for Wall since the James Harden trade. The Rockets were without a key piece of that deal as Victor Oladipo rested a sore right quadriceps.
Luka Doncic scored 26 points while sitting the entire fourth quarter with the game out of reach. The Slovenian star was again without European sidekick Kristaps Porzingis, who rested his surgically repaired right knee as the Mavericks finished five games in seven days by completing their second back-to-back in that stretch.
The Rockets were also playing on a second consecutive night for the first time this season and won both to improve to 3-3 since the Harden trade.
Houston never trailed as Cousins opened the scoring with a three-point play and scored eight points in the first three minutes. Cousins matched his most points since a torn Achilles tendon ended his final season with New Orleans in 2017-18.
Gordon was 6 of 9 from 3-point range as the Rockets shot 43% (16 of 37) from beyond the arc. Cousins, who came in shooting 26% overall and 24% from long range, was 9 of 15, including 4 of 8 from 3.
The Rockets led 70-59 after the highest-scoring half against Dallas this season. The Mavericks pulled within 74-71 early in the third quarter before Houston finished the quarter on a 30-12 run.
TIP-INS
Rockets: Wall played 21 minutes when coach Stephen Silas said he would watch his minutes closely and make sure he didn't play long stretches. ... David Mwaba scored a season-high 18 points, and Mason Jones had 16.
Mavericks: Tim Hardaway Jr., who was 0 of 12 from the field in the most recent Dallas loss against Toronto, missed all five shots in the first half before going 4 of 8 after halftime and finishing with 15 points. ... Doncic had eight assists and five rebounds. ... Boban Marjanovic matched Hardaway with 15 points, and Trey Burke had 13.
UP NEXT
Rockets: Washington visits Tuesday in one of three Houston home games in a span of 12 overall. It's the second scheduled game for the Wizards since a six-game shutdown because of COVID-19 protocols.
Mavericks: Denver visits Monday to finish just the second set of consecutive home games for the Mavericks, who played 11 of their first 15 on the road.
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