Clint Capela was charged with goaltending twice while Dallas protected a narrow fourth-quarter lead Friday. Cooper Flagg’s basket at 3:28 made it 100-96. Daniel Gafford’s at 1:18 made it 107-102. Neither ended Houston’s resistance, but both gave Dallas points from another trip inside during its 116-111 win at American Airlines Center.
Under the NBA’s Rule 11, a defensive goaltend on a two-point attempt yields the normal two points, credited like a basket. Dallas collected that value on both plays. Alongside the drives and floaters that surrounded them, the awarded baskets kept the Mavericks adding points while Houston kept reducing the margin. The payoff was modest and repeatable within this stretch: another offensive trip had produced something.
The first goaltending entry came during a stretch in which Flagg was repeatedly useful inside. The game was tied 96-96 when he made a driving floating jump shot with 4:07 remaining, putting Dallas ahead 98-96. At 3:28, he followed with another two-point basket, extending the lead to 100-96; the play-by-play also recorded Capela’s defensive goaltending violation.
Houston answered with two Kevin Durant free throws, then Fred VanVleet tied the game at 100 with a driving floating jump shot at 2:26. Dallas did not abandon the attack after that response. At 2:08, Kyrie Irving made a pull-up two-point shot with Flagg credited with the assist.
At 1:40, Flagg converted a driving floater assisted by Irving and made the accompanying free throw, pushing Dallas ahead 105-100.
That exchange tells more about the late offense than a simple tally of star points. Irving finished with 35 points and nine assists. Flagg had 33 points, nine rebounds and six assists, making 13 of 19 field-goal attempts.
Together, they shot 25 of 38. Flagg made all 13 of his baskets inside the arc, while Irving supplied five three-pointers and pressure off the dribble. Houston had to deal with two different forms of threat, and Dallas benefited when the stars kept involving one another through assisted scoring plays.
Gafford gave that approach a sturdier second center of gravity. He scored 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, added four offensive rebounds and blocked two shots. His late basket arrived after Durant’s pull-up at 1:27 reduced Dallas’ advantage to 105-102. At 1:18, Gafford made a two-point shot, and Capela’s defensive goaltending violation was recorded with it, restoring a five-point Dallas lead at 107-102.
Gafford then handled the most ordinary part of the finish with unusual importance. After Jabari Smith Jr. made a three-pointer with 15.8 seconds left to bring Houston within one, Gafford made both free throws at 11.3 seconds. The center’s efficiency mattered because Dallas had spent much of the night flirting with the sort of mistakes that allow a close game to become a bad memory.
The Rockets collected 48 player rebounds to Dallas’ 41 and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. Capela had 11 rebounds, including six offensive, while Tari Eason finished with 13 rebounds and eight offensive boards. Houston’s extra work did not automatically become points on every possession, but it kept the Rockets close and forced Dallas to make its good possessions count.
