HOUSTON – Another game. Another Picasso painted by Luka Dončić.
Etching an impressive portrait by scoring 47 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dispensing seven assists, Dončić went deep into his bag of tricks Sunday night as the Mavs knocked the Houston Rockets off their pedestal, winning, 125-107, before a sellout crowd of 18,055 at the Toyota Center.
Not only did the Mavs snap the Rockets’ NBA-high 11-game winning streak. But they also won for the 11th time in 12 games to improve to 45-29 while taking over the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.
New Orleans also owns a 45-29 record, but the Mavs currently own the tiebreaker over the Pelicans.
Now a perfect 4-0 on this season-high five-game road trip, the Mavs will finish it Tuesday at 9 p.m. in San Francisco against the Golden State Warriors before returning home to host the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
In helping the Mavs rack up their seventh straight victory, Dončić used his artistic talents to paint a beautiful game. He scored 36 points the Mavs tallied in the first quarter on 8-of-11 shots, including 5-of-7 from beyond 
the three-point arc.
It was a mind-boggling performance by Dončić, who has vaulted himself into one of the front-runners to capture this season’s Most Valuable Player award.
“I think on this road trip he’s been setting the tone early,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “As our leader he came out and set the tone offensively. But I thought, not just Luka, but the group was ready.
“Luka got us off to a good start offensively, but our defense, I thought the guys executed the defense to a tee tonight. But Luka, again, was Luka.”
And when Dončić is Dončić, Houston invariably was going to have a problem.
After leading by 14 points following the first quarter, the Mavs built an insurmountable 66-45 lead at the game’s midway point. At that juncture, Dončić had created 46 points for the Mavs via scoring or assists, as he already had 32 points and five assists in the books.
“He’s a great player,” Rockets guard Amen Thompson said. “Great players are going to make shots even when you defend well.
“But we’ve got to cut his water off earlier next time.”
The water was definitely flowing freely for Dončić. So much so that when Jabari Smith Jr. had him penned on the perimeter with the 24-second shot
clock winding down, all Dončić did was re-calibrate and toss up an underhand 20-footer that went through the basket and put the Mavs up, 72-47, less than two minutes into the second half.
In explaining how he was able to side-step Smith and convert a seemingly impossible shot, Dončić said: “When I was young, I was bartending. I had a good feeling it was going in.”
From Kyrie Irving’s vantage point, the underhand 20-footer by Dončić compared favorably to the 20-foot buzzer-beating left-handed hook shot Irving made that defeated Denver, 107-105, back on March 7.
“I was running back on defense shaking my head,” Irving said. “That’s how you know you’re having fun with the game. He was having a great night.
“We’ve seen him hit some ridiculous shots before. It was going to be one of those nights for sure once he hits those, so I’m really proud of him that he kept staying aggressive. He’s having fun, and that’s what you want when you’re playing out there with someone special.”
On this night, several of the shots hoisted by Dončić found their intended destinations. He was 18-of-30 from the floor, including 9-of-16 from downtown.
“One thing that I’ve learned just being on very special teams – great teams – is you’ve got to be able to play every role,” said Irving, who finished with 24 points and seven assists. “So, when somebody is scoring for five straight minutes, keep feeding him that good energy and that positive reinforcement and just play defense and enjoy doing the little things.
“When he’s being that efficient and being that aggressive, it’ll open up more opportunities for us. You just got to be ready to play every role when somebody’s got it going like that.”
With Dončić burying a three-pointer, the Mavs mounted an 82-53 lead midway through the third quarter and promptly carried a 91-73 lead into the fourth quarter. The Rockets, painted into a dark corner, got no closer than 15 points in the final quarter.
Forward P.J. Washington described what Dončić experienced against the Rockets as just magic that he hopes he’ll be able to duplicate in Tuesday’s game against the Warriors.
“I just enjoy him being himself out there and just going out and dominating each and every night,” said Washington, who had 12 points and six rebounds. “It’s special to watch.”
It also was special to watch the Mavs slam the door on Rockets guard Jalen Green, who was held to just 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
“Obviously, we know he’s been having great games early, so we tried to take him out of the game early and make it hard for him and make somebody else beat us,” Washington said. “Every time he came off the pick-and-roll we just wanted to be aggressive with him and get the ball out of his hands.”
It all was part of a master plan which saw the Mavs hold the Rockets to 42.4 percent shooting, while also converting 51.6 percent of their own field goals, including making 24-of-47 three-pointers for a sizzling 51.1 percent.
While the Rockets didn’t send many double-teams in the direction of Dončić, he said: “I’m surprise when they doubled me, because I’ll be able to make the right read, so then we’re scoring baskets with a lot of space. So, if they double me there’s a chance for everybody to get involved.”
And if the double-team doesn’t come, Dončić remains in a position to do what he does best. And that is, create some ever-lasting magic.
“We’ve been lucky enough to be around him for three years, and we’ve seen him kick the ball in, we’ve seen him shoot from half court, full court, sitting in a chair,” Kidd said. “So, to see him do that (underhand 20-footer), I think a lot of people got excited.
“But I think at the same time everybody (said), ‘That’s Luka. He’s always able to make tough shots. Again, the Picasso ones. You give him a paint brush, he’s going to do something special, and that shot was pretty special.”
X: @DwainPrice
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