Luka Dončić ended the Houston Rockets' 11-game winning streak on Sunday night in a way only he could have done.
The Dallas Mavericks star led his team past the Rockets at the Toyota Center on Sunday, leading them to a 125-107 victory that handed Houston its first loss since March 6. He finished with 47 points and made nine threes in the win, but it was a ridiculous underhand shot in the third quarter that really stood out. The shot was from a game of HORSE played somewhere in the driveway rather than on an NBA court.
Dončić was trying to make a move to beat Jabari Smith Jr. at the 3-point line, at a time when the Mavericks were already in a very comfortable position. Dončić faked once and then went inside before hitting an underhand shot from almost a foot inside the arc as if it was nothing.
Dončić burst out of the gates in Dallas on Sunday night. He hit five three-pointers in the first quarter to immediately put the Mavericks up by double digits and then went into halftime with 32 points and 8 rebounds to his name. The Rockets didn't have much of an answer and went into the break with a 21-point lead.
By then, it was too late for Houston to get back in the game, especially when Dončić felt comfortable enough to hit his trick shot. The Mavericks held on for an 18-point win. Smith led the Rockets with 28 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 5/7 from behind the arc. Aaron Holiday added 16 points off the bench and Cam Whitmore had 13 points and 5 rebounds.
The Rockets have been on an incredible streak over the last month that has almost brought them back into playoff contention. They entered Sunday's game having won 11 in a row and 13 of their last 14 games. This moved the Rockets to 11th place in the Western Conference standings. A loss to the Mavericks dropped them to 38-36 on the season and they now sit in the final play-in position in the West, two games behind the Golden State Warriors with eight games left in the regular season.
