00:03The Dallas Mavericks hand the Houston Rockets their first loss of the season,
00:07opening NBA Cup play with a final score of 116-111.
00:11This one was a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
00:15Dallas was able to string together stops and knock down clutch shots when it mattered most.
00:20The Mavericks made their presence felt in transition, outscoring Houston 28-10 in fast break points.
00:26Dallas also had the hot hand from beyond the arc, shooting 36% from three compared to Houston's 24%.
00:33Here's what head coach Dusty May had to say following the line.
00:36I thought our effort was good. There didn't seem to be any leak outs, guys that weren't in the fight.
00:40I thought we were in the fight. And then we took care of the ball better.
00:43I mean, we had 17, and that's still better than game one.
00:46But it seemed like most of our turnovers, other than a couple of just bad numbers,
00:51and we just kind of threw it to the wrong guy, a lot of them seemed to be dead ball
00:54turnovers,
00:55which is an improvement. But this is Houston, they're tough to play against.
00:59Leading the way for Dallas was Kyrie Irving, who finished with 35 points and 9 assists.
01:04Cooper Flagg wasn't far behind, putting together an impressive performance of his own
01:08with 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.
01:11Daniel Gafford added 18 points and 7 rebounds,
01:14while Zachary Ristashir provided a spark off the bench with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
01:20With the win, Dallas improves to 4-2 on the season and will return home on Monday
01:25to take on the Sacramento Kings.
01:26For more on the Dallas Mavericks, tune in to Spectrum Cable,
01:29Channel 15 on Wednesday and Thursday nights at 11 p.m.
01:32I'm Lacey Hawthorne with D210 Sports, and you've been credentialed.
01:36D210 Sports!
01:37Yeah.
01:38Feel the vibe!
01:40Yeah.