Dallas Mavericks vs. Houston Rockets observations
The Dallas Mavericks came up with a huge 111-100 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night at home. I was there live to cover the game, and had a few quick observations for one of the Mavs’ biggest wins of the season
1. Mavs overcome slow start: In the preview, I wrote that the Dallas Mavericks had to try and avoid a slow start against this Houston team to have a chance. But sadly, the Mavs came out flat and out of sync again. Dallas missed their first five shots of the game, leading head coach Rick Carlisle to call an early timeout.
But Dallas rebounded quickly, thanks in part to two Tyson Chandler alley-oop dunks that got the Mavs back in it.
“I think it was just the effort to let the plays happen,” Chandler said. “Playing good defense, getting stops, getting out on the run and connecting gave our guys a little bit of juice.”
Dallas needs to figure out how to come out sharp from the opening tip, but thankfully they were able to figure it out before it got out of hand.
2. Bench impresses: Since the trade that sent Brandan Wright to Boston for Rajon Rondo, the Mavs bench has had its fair share of struggles. Not tonight though.
Out of the Mavs eight double-digit scorers, three were off the bench in Devin Harris, Charlie Villanueva and Al-Farouq Aminu. Harris had 17 points to go with seven assists and six rebounds, which was one of his best games in a while. Aminu was big through out the game, with 17 points and 12 rebounds. His performance was one of the biggest reasons the Mavs got this win, and more games like this would help Dallas tremendously.
“Lately [Aminu’s] been one of our best plus/minus guys,” Carlisle said. “He gives us a presence on the boards, his shooting gets better every game and he takes the challenge defensively.”
It’s hard to expect the Dallas bench to play like that night in and night out, but Amar’e Stoudemire making his Mavs debut on Sunday will provide an added boost.
3. Finally got the Rockets: All four of Dallas’ games against Houston this year are on the second night of a back-to-back, and the Mavs suffered two excruciating losses already this season. That makes this win even bigger.
“This was a very big game,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “Especially after last night’s loss, and that’s how we played in parts. We didn’t really finish the game how we wanted to in the fourth, but held on to lead pretty good, and that was a quality win for sure.”
As big as this rivalry is, Nowitzki said seeing and playing against old teammate Jason Terry was fun.
“It’s always good to see him,” Nowitzki said. “Like I always say, the team that won it in 2010-2011, anytime you see those guys it’s like family.”
4. Point guard: The point guard situation in Dallas has been interesting. In the first quarter, the offense with Rajon Rondo looked flat and out of sync. But, when J.J. Barea and Harris check in, things picked up in a big way. But Rondo scored eight big points in the third quarter, and the offense started running a lot more smoothly with him. It’s far too early to say that Rondo has been bust in Dallas. We’ve seen flashes of what he can do, but it’s just a matter of him becoming more comfortable and learning Carlisle’s offense.
5. Injuries: Dirk left the game for a bit with a shoulder issue, but returned in the fourth quarter and should be a go on Sunday against Charlotte. But Chandler Parsons is the bigger concern. It looked like a rolled his ankle in the third quarter, but played on. Later, Parsons returned to the locker room and did not return to game. He’ll have an MRI on the ankle on Saturday, and it’s unclear if he’ll miss any time.