At 7:01 of the fourth quarter, Kyrie Irving’s 3-pointer gave the Dallas Mavericks a 91-88 lead over Houston. It was the clearest jolt in his closing burst, but the more important feature of the sequence came afterward: Irving kept scoring without turning every Dallas possession into an Irving possession.
Dallas beat the Rockets 116-111 on Friday at American Airlines Center. Irving scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and finished with nine assists for the game. He had entered the period on 19 points, so the scoring burst was substantial. The passes made it more than a collection of his own baskets.
The 7:01 basket completed a 15-4 opening run in the quarter. Houston had taken an 84-76 lead into the period, and Dallas had already received a 3-pointer from Caleb Martin at 7:43 that tied the game at 88. Irving then put the Mavericks ahead.
Before that lead-changing shot, he had scored on a driving floater and a running pull-up, raising the pressure of his own offense without removing everyone else from the picture.
His next useful decision was a pass. At 6:16, Irving assisted Daniel Gafford on a dunk. Nineteen seconds later, at 5:57, he found Martin for a two-point basket. Those were different finishes from different teammates, and they arrived immediately after Irving had supplied the period’s defining scoring swing. Martin finished with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting; Gafford had 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Gafford’s production helped Dallas answer a problem that did not disappear simply because Irving got hot. Houston collected 20 offensive rebounds and attempted 96 field goals, 15 more than the Mavericks. Dallas gave away 18 total turnovers as well.
The Gafford connection did not solve the possession battle, but it converted a Dallas trip into a high-value interior score instead of asking Irving to manufacture another difficult attempt. Gafford also had three turnovers and went 6-of-9 at the foul line, so this was productive work rather than a spotless night.
Then came the brief interruption in Irving’s shift. With Dallas ahead 95-93 and 5:26 remaining, Cooper Flagg entered for him. In the 2:12 before Irving returned, Flagg scored on a driving floater and another two-point basket. When Irving came back at 3:14, Dallas led 100-98. Houston had regained some ground, but Dallas had not gone quiet while its principal fourth-quarter scorer rested.
The exchange after Irving’s return made the division of responsibility even clearer. He missed a 3-pointer, then made a pull-up shot at 2:08 with Flagg credited for the assist. At 1:40, Irving supplied the pass as Flagg scored on a driving floater.
