Sixth men sputter against Rockets; Thompson passes 2,500 triples

Sometimes, it takes a village. Or a committee. Or a band of brothers all willing to pull in the same direction, although so far for the Mavericks, they haven’t been able to pull all at once.

Through the first four games, the Mavericks had four players who could stake a claim for being their most important player off the bench in at least one of those games.

Dereck Lively II has been the most consistent producer in a reserve role. But Spencer Dinwiddie, Jaden Hardy and Quentin Grimes also have had games when they provided the key spark that ignited the Mavericks when they needed a jump-start. And Naji Marshall is no doubt primed to join the party soon.

The Mavericks are built around three…