Point guard Luka Dončić essentially blamed himself for the Dallas Mavericks’ slow start in Thursday’s 108-102 loss to the Houston Rockets.

But coach Jason Kidd wasn’t about to let the five-time All-Star shoulder all the blame in a loss that dropped the Mavs to 3-2.

“It’s not just him, it’s a us,” Kidd said. “He is one of our leaders and he takes responsibility, but I think overall we have to be better.

“We’re getting good looks and they’re not going to us right now.”

The fact that open and/or easy shots aren’t falling for the Mavs has become a source of frustration. But Kidd said that’s not the way to solve problems.

“We can’t get frustrated by misses,” he said. “We’re in the paint, we’re missing some layups, we’re missing free throws and I think we get a little frustrated at times. And we have to be a little better with the positives – our energy has to be redirected and we can move on to the next part – and we’ll get there.

“Again, it’s not just Luka. We don’t just shoot the ball straight and that’s a transfer to our defense, and our defense is not able to rebound the ball. Giving up (18) offensive rebounds, that’s tough.”

The Rockets totaled 50 rebounds, 18 of which were offensive. The Mavs finished with 37 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end of the floor.

It all led to the Rockets beating the Mavs in second-chance points, 20-8.

The Mavs shot 45.9 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent (10-of-30) from three-point land.

Here are our takeaways from the Mavs’ six-point loss to the Rockets.

GREEN WASHING MONEY: Jalen Green was the big producer for the Rockets with team highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds, coupled with a team high of four assists. He also buried a three-pointer with 1:12 left that gave the Rockets a 103-97 lead and set the stage for the win. Green was 9 of 21 from the field, including 3 of 8 from beyond the three-point arc.

DONCIC FOUND HIS RHYTHM IN THE FOURTH: Luka Dončić struggled to find his chance at the start of this season. He found it Thursday in the fourth quarter, when he went 6-of-8 from the field — 3-of-4 from three-point territory — and scored 15 points. In total, Dončić scored 29 points in the game on 12 of 25 shots. He was 3-of-7 from downtown and also grabbed five rebounds.

TOO MANY ERRORS: Coach Jason Kidd pointed out after the game that his team must learn to avoid so many mistakes. The Mavs committed 27 fouls on Thursday, leading to 27 free throw attempts by the Rockets. “We’re hacking them here,” Kidd said. “There are smart fouls and there are bad fouls, and we have a lot of bad fouls. It’s all coachable. It’s all fixable. It’s early in the season, but it’s not the referees. It’s us.”

X: @DwainPrice