– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — The dire straits that the Houston Rockets found themselves in going into Sunday’s game in terms of making the postseason did not stop them from thoroughly dominating the majority of the game. The opportunity to move away from the bottom of the conference playoff picture and securing direct entry into the playoffs was an even stronger motivation for the Dallas Mavericks, who pulled victory from the jaws of defeat while plunging their in-state rival into postseason oblivion.
Dante Exum’s buzzer-beating three-pointer after two Houston missed free throws forced overtime before Kyrie Irving carried over his dazzling scoring display into the extra session as the Mavericks came back from a 22-point deficit to defeat the Rockets 174-136 inside American Airlines Center on Sunday afternoon. Luka Doncic was one rebound away from a triple double while scoring 37 points as Dallas remains in fifth place in the Western Conference standings and on path for direct entry into the NBA Playoffs if it finish in the top six.
Houston, who had won 11 consecutive games to pull within a game of the final play-in position at one point, have now lost five straight and were officially eliminated from postseason contention in the most cruel fashion.
Jabari Smith Jr. had a chance to put the Rockets in a good position to snap its losing streak, but missed two free throws with 8.3 seconds left with the Rockets up by three. Dallas secured the rebound and got the ball to Doncic, who was double-team high on the perimeter and forced to pass it to Exum, who confidently sank the three as time expired to tie the game at 129.
“I just went and grabbed it and tried to get the ball to Luka,” said Exum, who scored 14 points. “Luka is obviously great knowing that two guys are going to double him and trusting his teammates.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s contest, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 25 pictures in total.
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