On January 2nd, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued with the Rockets hosting the Mavericks. Both teams had similar records, with the Rockets at 21 wins and 11 losses, and the Mavericks at 20 wins and 13 losses. Additionally, both teams were in poor form recently, having suffered two consecutive defeats. Therefore, this intra-Texas battle was sure to end the losing streak for one of the teams.
In the first quarter, the Rockets started coldly while the Mavericks took an early lead with a hot hand, leading 16-6 for a 10-point advantage; however, Green and Xiao Smith's scoring helped the Rockets stop the bleeding, followed by Dillion scoring six points to tie the game. But in the final stages, the Mavericks had another small run to lead 30-24 and end the first quarter six points ahead.
In the first half of the second quarter, the Mavericks relied on consecutive three-pointers to lead 40-30 by 10 points; then the game took a sharp turn as Whitmore and Shenjing played very actively for the Rockets, combining for a 17-4 run to overtake the score. Then it was Green, Whitmore, and Dillion who exploded, helping the Rockets end the half leading the Mavericks 61-52 by nine points.
In the first half of the third quarter, Xiao Smith, Shenjing, and Dillion worked together to help the Rockets take a 16-point lead; after Irving and Clay scored consecutively to narrow the gap, it was again Dillion, Xiao Smith, and Shenjing who stepped up to stabilize the situation. In the final stages, Dillion and Tate's three-pointers helped the Rockets end the third quarter leading the Mavericks 89-75 by 14 points.
In the fourth quarter, Clay and Dinwiddie hit three consecutive threes to narrow the gap, but then Whitmore, VanVleet, and Green stood up to score continuously, extending the lead to 18 points. The Rockets maintained a double-digit lead throughout and defeated the Mavericks 110-99, ending their two-game losing streak while handing the Mavericks their third consecutive defeat.
Individually, the Rockets' Shenjing scored 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 steals; Green had 22 points and 5 rebounds; Dillion had 19 points and 6 rebounds; Xiao Smith had 12 points and 2 rebounds; and Whitmore had a big breakout, shooting 7 out of 9 from the field, including 3 out of 4 from three-point range, to explode for 18 points, which was also his second-highest scoring game of the season. VanVleet had 5 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals, but shot only 1 out of 8, so even though the Rockets won, VanVleet faced criticism post-game, becoming the only flaw for the Rockets in this match.
For the Mavericks, Irving had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals; Glimes had 17 points and 5 rebounds; and Clay had 16 points and 5 rebounds.