Player Grades: Recapping the Mavericks’ 128-110 opening night loss at the Rockets

The Dallas Mavericks (0-1) opened the 2026-27 season against the in-state rival Houston Rockets (1-0) on Wednesday night, falling 128-110 at the Toyota Center after one of the worst second quarters you will ever see. The long-awaited return of Kyrie Irving only halfway materialized, as the veteran guard logged just 24 minutes in his first game back from a torn ACL he suffered in March 2025. But for those 24 minutes, Mavs fans got their first look at the dynamic duo of Irving and Cooper Flagg.

Head coach Dusty May made plenty of lineup switches in the early going. In fact, 10 players logged over five minutes each, well before halftime rolled around. The starting five fared well in the opening minutes, but the sample size was small and you have to wonder if the frequency of substitutions didn’t contribute heavily to the lack of rhythm thereafter. It didn’t help that the Rockets are a much more well-rounded team and Dallas is still finding its way. About 20 minutes into the game, this one was over.

Advertisement

Let’s get to the grades!

Kyrie Irving: A-

15 PTS / 4 REB / 2 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 24 MIN

Yes, this grade is intentionally generous. Irving’s numbers didn’t jump off the box score, but this is a guy who hasn’t played in nearly 600 days(!) and who, in limited minutes, arguably played harder than any other Maverick. He drove, he shot (very well; 6-of-9 overall), he absorbed contact and got to the line, he played defense and he even got in amongst the trees for a few rebounds. Certainly not the best game in his Hall-of-Fame career, but against the backdrop of a return from injury, this was nothing short of amazing and a nice welcome back from a very long layoff.

Advertisement

Max Christie: C-

5 PTS / 3 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 29 MIN

Christie is likely to face some slightly harsher grades from me on nights where he camps out at the 3-point line almost exclusively. He’s a great shooter from deep (not tonight; 1-of-7) and needs to be hoisting from beyond the arc, but he’s got to mix it up a bit. Worse than not driving, the one time he did, he made an ill-advised pass underneath to Daniel Gafford rather than…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/player-grades-recapping-mavericks-128-045800509.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-22 04:58:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.