By james art 
“They made tough shots,” Mavericks star Kyrie Irving said of the Rockets. “You can tell this team has grown since last year. They hold each other very accountable.
Superstar guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined for 57 points on nearly 50 percent shooting, but it still wasn’t enough for the Dallas Mavericks to win at home in Thursday’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
Taking that score into account, the longtime Western Conference foes and Texas rivals are each 3-2 after their first five games of the 2024-25 NBA regular season.
In postgame comments, Irving showed clear respect and admiration for the Rockets. Among his comments (hat tip to Chris Gorman, X):
They made tough shots. Down the stretch they were in the right places. You can tell this team has grown since last year. They hold each other very accountable. They talked a lot of nonsense to us… they wanted to take the fight to us.
In his own interview, Doncic praised Rockets guard Jaylen Green, who led Houston with a team-high 23 points and 12 rebounds.
At the very least, this type of strong praise from a pair of likely Hall of Famers seems to suggest that head coach Ime Udoka has got his team on the right track in Houston.
The full video of Irving’s comments is available below.