DALLAS (AP) — Tuesday night’s 121-115 victory over the Houston Rockets prevented them from moving on to the NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals. Luka Doncic finished with 41 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists.

Already eliminated, Kyrie Irving scored twenty-two of his twenty-seven points in the second half for the Mavericks. With a 3-1 record, the New Orleans Pelicans were able to win Group B in the Western Conference thanks to their victory.

Doncic almost missed tying his career high of 59 triple-doubles. With Larry Bird, that would have tied him for seventh place all-time. He made 3 of 10 3-pointers out of 29 shots.

“We shouldn’t take him for granted sometimes,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd stated. “He’s all about winning, but he’s a walking triple-double by coincidence.”

Irving’s drive with 6:25 remaining gave the Mavericks, who had fallen down by nine points in the third quarter, their first lead of the game at 99-98. With 5:25 remaining and a lead of 103-100, they went on an 8-2 run that featured three free throws from Derrick Jones Jr. after Dillon Brooks fouled him on a 25-foot shot just as the shot clock expired.

With eight seconds remaining, Jabari Smith Jr.’s 3-pointer brought the Rockets within 119-115 before Dallas sealed the victory.

Early in the Saturday game, Doncic suffered a mild sprain to his left thumb, which is his non-shooting hand. Nevertheless, he continued to play. There was a band around his thumb.

Doncic recovered a loose ball close to the baseline and hit a hook shot from the free throw line.

Doncic declared, “I’m 2 for 2 in my career on the hooks,” adding that the other occurred during a Slovenian national team game against Sweden.

During the first half, Irving shot 2 for 11 and 1 for 5 from 3-point range while attempting no free throws. In the second half, he went 6 for 11 with one basket from beyond the arc and sunk all nine of his free throws.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka remarked, “I told the team, ‘Played well enough to win, not smart enough to win.'” “We were very forceful towards the conclusion of the third quarter. Had several players commit a few careless fouls, positioned Kyrie near the line, and ignited him when he wasn’t particularly hot. Of course, you may be aggressive, but it’s a dumb play to slap someone on the arm during a 3-point attempt. Aggression has nothing to do with it.

The Rockets had six players who scored in double figures, led by Alperen Sengun, who scored a season-high 31 points. With 12 assists, Fred VanVleet scored 10 points.

This season, the Rockets have dropped all six of their away games. They started the game with an NBA-high average of 104.4 points allowed per contest.

The Mavericks claimed unhappiness with the quality and chose not to use the specially constructed court for either of their home tournament games.