Houston’s 5-0 Start Puts Dallas’s No. 12 Rank Under Pressure

Houston arrives 5-0 with a league-leading No. 1 power-index rank and a plus-71 point differential; Dallas is 3-2 and sits No. 12. The Rockets are scoring 123 points per game, while the Mavericks average 114, making Dallas’s ability to contain Houston’s attack the central test. Cooper Flagg has 101 points in four games and Kyrie Irving 72 in four, giving Dallas two proven scoring threats to answer Kevin Durant’s 112 points in five games. Alperen Sengun, who has 98 points and 28 assists in four games, is questionable with back soreness, and Dallas will be without center Dereck Lively II; Houston’s interior options and the availability of its playmaking big could shape the outcome.