Here’s our five takeaways from the Mavericks’ 128-121 loss Friday night against the Houston Rockets.
Toting the load: This was the fifth game this season that Luka Doncic has missed. He was out for four games with a sprained right ankle in December and was out on Friday with a similar injury. He’ll miss at least five more games, too. What the Mavericks have learned in the first five games the superstar point guard has missed is that Kristaps Porzingis will rise to the occasion when the need arises. He had a season-high 35 points to go with 12 rebounds.