Star Metro - Injury cuts short Davis's dominant Dallas debut

Davis had given Dallas fans still fuming over the trade of Luka Doncic plenty of reasons to welcome his arrival, scoring 26 points with 16 rebounds, seven assists and three of the Mavs' 18 blocked shots.

But he pulled up in pain with less than three minutes remaining in the third period, departing with what the team called a lower body injury.

There had been no contact when Davis stopped short and put his hand to his groin, heading immediately for the sideline.

His injury will likely fuel the outrage among some Mavs fans at the trade that brought Davis from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Doncic -- the 25-year-old Slovenian star who led the team to the NBA Finals last season.

Some gathered outside American Airlines Center before the game with signs calling for general manager Nico Harrison to be fired.

Nevertheless, Davis received a huge ovation when he was introduced and the cheers were even louder when he fed Daniel Gafford for an alley-oop dunk for the first points of the game.

Davis had 14 points on six of eight shooting in the first quarter with eight rebounds, three assists and a block as the Mavs surged to a 33-20 lead.

Dallas would push their lead to as many as 21 on the way to a 65-48 halftime lead, but the Rockets sliced the deficit to two points in the third quarter.

The Mavericks rebuilt the lead with a burst launched by two big three-pointers from reserve Naji Marshall.

Kyrie Irving, held without a basket on five attempts in the first half, drove for his first bucket and drew a foul for a three-point play that pushed the Mavs' lead back to 82-73.

They led 89-81 going into the fourth quarter and held on to hand the reeling Rockets a sixth straight defeat.

Now the Mavs will anxiously await word on Davis's injury. His debut had already been delayed as he recovered from an abdominal strain suffered in his final game with the Lakers on January 28.

L.Mitchell--SMC