The Dallas Mavericks entered Saturday night riding a three-game losing streak, and they were facing their in-state rival, the Houston Rockets, for the final time this season already. Houston has been one of the better teams in the West despite injuries and a strange lineup.

The first quarter was mostly back and forth, as most NBA games are, seeing 7 lead changes and three ties. But it also started extremely ugly. Brandon Williams was eventually electric off the bench for the Mavs, scoring 13 points in the first quarter, but he’d get hurt in the second quarter before being ruled out for the game.

Houston started to take control in the second quarter, but especially Jabari Smith Jr. Daniel Gafford had a big quarter for the Mavs, which was a good sign to see given how iffy this season has been for him. Maybe that’ll convince a team to trade a first-round pick for him at the deadline this year.

The Rockets led 59-51 at halftime, and it looked like they were going to run away with the game in the third quarter, pushing the lead to as large as 13 a few times. But as the Mavericks have done all year, they refused to die. After the second time that the Rockets went up by 13, the Mavericks outscored Houston 13-5 with some impressive buckets from Cooper Flagg, helping to shrink the gap to just 5 at the end of the quarter.

Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard tried to put the game away, immediately pushing the lead up to 11, but Klay Thompson and Cooper Flagg had answers for that. The Mavericks refused to die, getting the lead down to 2 with a dunk from Daniel Gafford in the final three minutes.

Naji Marshall tied the game with a layup with about 47 seconds to go, which helped complete a wild comeback. However, Alperen Sengun retook the lead on the next sequence, Cooper Flagg missed a tough layup, and Tari Eason got free for a dunk to put the game away. Houston would go on to win 111-107.

Here are three overreactions from this loss.

READ MORE: Knicks Preparing Underwhelming Trade Package for Coveted Dallas Mavericks Wing

1. Trade Every Veteran in Cooper Flagg’s Way

Cooper Flagg was already a really good rookie. And he’s somehow only getting better. He followed up his incredible 49-point performance last game with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists on 13/25 shooting. He nearly tripled Kevin Durant’s scoring output. At this point, just let him take every single shot so he can continue putting up historic numbers. If someone wants Naji Marshall? Talk them into a first-round pick for him. Anybody want Anthony Davis? Please, take him. Trade any veteran who is not letting Flagg shine the way he should be.

2. Basketball Gods Should Rewards Ethically Tanking Again

The Mavericks are now 11 games under .500 with 33 games remaining. It’s not worth trying to fight into the Play-In Tournament, but they’re still in nearly every game. They fight as hard as any team, and hopefully, that lands them another top pick in the draft lottery. Mavericks fans maybe shouldn’t be asking for too much after already getting lucky once with Cooper Flagg, but considering how screwed over they were by Nico Harrison, another top pick wouldn’t be so bad.

3. There Will Be Conversations About P.J. Washington This Offseason

P.J. Washington is a good basketball player. He does not fit this roster. Granted, a lot of this roster doesn’t fit together, but he just doesn’t fit alongside Cooper Flagg. Too many of their skillsets overlap, and Flagg is better at nearly all of them and will only get better. Washington can’t be traded until the offseason because of when he signed his contract, but there will be conversations this offseason.

READ MORE: Why Mavericks’ Biggest Trade Deadline Need Might Not Be What Fans Expect

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Dallas-Fort Worth residents, new and old, are familiar with the Dallas Zoo’s iconic giraffe statue, which has been a staple in the community for many years.

But Dallas Morning News reader Katherine Homan asked Curious Texas: “What is the story behind the zoo’s giraffe?”

Let’s peel back the layers in the tale of the zoo’s beloved statue.

The statue has been standing for nearly three decades, said Dustin Crawford, assistant vice president of capital projects and facilities maintenance at the zoo. Construction on the bronzed beauty was announced in October of 1996, and it was installed on Jan. 22, 1997.

The statue was designed to stand 50-55 feet tall with a 2-foot tall tongue, but Crawford said Larry Powell, a columnist with The News, suggested it be even taller. So it was.

According to Crawford, the statue now stands 67.5 feet tall, including about a 40-inch tongue. That makes it taller than Big Tex, which stands at about 55 feet tall.

For 20 years, the Dallas Zoo’s giraffe statue took the crown as the tallest statue in Texas. Today, Crawford said there are two or three statues that stand taller than the giraffe.

The goal behind making the statue so tall was to make it a large visual marker, grabbing the attention of drivers as they passed the zoo. And mission accomplished, because the giraffe has served as a landmark and key part of the community for years.

“People from Dallas take a lot of pride in the statue,” Crawford said.

So what is it made of, and how did they get it in front of the zoo? It’s an easier process than you think.

Bob Cassilly, an artist and sculptor based in Missouri, designed and built the statue in his St. Louis studio. Crawford said the statue, made out of bonded bronze and plexiglass, was transported to Dallas in pieces on three flatbed trucks. Then it was assembled here. (No, it was not transported in one gigantic piece.)

And after nearly 30 years of standing, weathering many storms, the giraffe was due for a much-needed makeover. Last year, Dallas Zoo officials made the decision to refurbish the statue, as part of an investment into the zoo and its surrounding community. Work on it began in December and took about three weeks to complete.

The refurbishing gives it the shine you see now, Crawford said, and it should last a decade longer. Great for a photo opp.

Zoo officials say the best place to take a photo of the giraffe in its entirety is by the nearby McDonald’s, the elephant sculptures or at the Halperin Park overlook. People are also able to walk up and get close to the statue, but the photo won’t be that great. At best, you’ll get a hoof, they said.

“We are proud to have such an enduring and visible symbol of Dallas serve as an iconic welcome to Southern Dallas and the Dallas Zoo,” Dallas Zoo CEO Lisa New said. “For generations, the giraffe has been a familiar and beloved landmark for our community and a signal that visitors have arrived somewhere special.”

Dallas will remove its rainbow, Black Lives Matter and other decorative crosswalks within 90 days and consider replacing them with some other form of public art, City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert announced Friday.

In a memo to the City Council, Tolbert confirmed the city submitted a plan to the Texas Department of Transportation earlier in the day that would put Dallas in compliance with state standards for the road markings.

“While the City maintains that existing crosswalk designs do not present measurable public safety issues, we appreciate TxDOT’s partnership in sustaining safe and efficient multimodal transportation within Dallas,” she wrote.

The decision comes ahead of a Saturday deadline set by TxDOT, which had rejected the city’s request to keep 30 decorative crosswalks.

TxDOT had required a signed and sealed certification from a traffic engineer confirming the road markings complied with state standards, a document Tolbert has previously told the agency that the city couldn’t provide.

The deadline comes after a monthslong dispute over the crosswalks, which TxDOT says violate state standards requiring plain white markings.

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the removal of decorative crosswalks around the state in October, calling markings like rainbow crosswalks “distractions” that promote political messages. Advocates argue they represent neighborhood pride, not safety hazards.

Cities refusing to comply risk losing state or federal transportation funding among other possible consequences, state transportation agency officials said.

“I wish our governor would spend time on things that actually moves the needle for our state instead of picking on vulnerable populations and low hanging fruit for political gain,” Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua told The Dallas Morning News late Friday. His district in South Dallas has 16 Black Lives Matter crosswalks.

“This just means we have to get creative,” he added.

Council member Paul Ridley, whose district includes rainbow and other artistic crosswalks, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday, but told The News earlier in the day he believed the city would submit a plan to the state by the end of the business day.

Ridley previously praised city officials for appealing to try to keep the crosswalks.

Gus Khankarli, the city’s transportation and public works director, didn’t respond to requests for comment Friday.

Along with the South Dallas crosswalks, the installations in Dallas include 10 rainbow crosswalks in Oak Lawn and four individualized art crosswalks in Uptown.

Tolbert said in her memo that city officials plan to reach out to community leaders to “explore creative approaches that reflect neighborhood identity and character through community art initiatives.”

Crosswalks changes

REMOVAL: Dallas will remove the rainbow, Black Lives Matter and other decorative crosswalks within 90 days to comply with a Texas directive.

STATE PRESSURE: The move comes after state transportation officials rejected the city’s appeal, with funding at risk if Dallas failed to comply.

WHAT’S NEXT: City officials say they will explore other forms of public art to reflect neighborhood identity once the markings are removed.

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