Houston led from start to finish at The Venetian Arena as VanVleet, Eason and Sengun powered the Rockets past Dallas in Game 1 of the NBA China Games
Rockets beat Mavericks by 18 in NBA China Games opener
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The Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 135-117 at The Venetian Arena on Friday night in the first game of the NBA China Games 2026 in Macao.
Houston led from start to finish, with no lead changes and no ties. Fred VanVleet hit three threes to open a 9-0 run, and the Rockets led by as many as 28. VanVleet finished with 17 points on five threes.
The bench did much of the damage. Tari Eason scored 20 points in 24 minutes, Reed Sheppard added 16 and Bruce Thornton 13, as Houston’s reserves outscored Dallas’s 67–55. Alperen Şengün had a triple double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Kevin Durant scored 15 in 23 minutes. The Rockets starters sat out the fourth quarter.
[See more: All you need to know about the SJM Macao Open 2026]
Dallas never found a way back. Cooper Flagg scored 19 points in 19 minutes, all in the first half. Naji Marshall had 16 and Max Christie 14. The Mavericks made 18 of 51 from three, while Houston made 18 of 36. Dallas won the third and fourth quarters by a point each, but the gap never closed.
Football great David Beckham and actor Jackie Chan were among the crowd. So were former NBA players Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Jeremy Lin and Yao Ming, who spent his whole career with the Rockets.
Kyrie Irving did not play but could return in Sunday’s game. The teams meet again on Sunday at 6 pm.
