The Dallas Mavericks (10-9) won their away game at the Houston Rockets (9-11) convincingly with 128:108. In the Texas duel, the first success after eight bankruptcies in a row was achieved with the fear opponent. Above all, the bank around J.J. Barea and Devin Harris stands out, Maxi Kleber and Luka Doncic also present themselves strongly.
Dennis Smith Jr. returned to the Starting Five for Dallas, while the Rockets again had to do without Chris Paul (thigh), for CP3 Eric Gordon started. Houston got the better start, however, while the Mavs had three turnovers in the first four possessions. Luka Doncic then brought Dallas into the game as he pressed two completely crazy threesomes from the corner of James Harden in the face.
The Mavs were now fully in the game, while the Rockets in the Defense had big tuning problems and some switches spen completely. So it hail Dunks of Smith, DeAndre Jordan and even Doncic. For the Rockets, Harden had to put a lot of pressure on his team again. He had collected 10 points in the first quarter, but often had to fight with his fellow players (4 TO) due to a lack of automatism. Dallas led after twelve minutes with 36:28.
Without Harden, the offensive was even less intense. But what was more fatal was how easy it was for the guests to score points, the Spalding was strongly moved and there were lots of open deals. J.J. Barea once again conducted the Second Unit excellently, resulting in an interim 19-point lead. Maxi Kleber also had his share of two threes. The Rockets then kept up offensively, but could not stop Dallas. With the siren Doncic pocketed a throw from the middle line and provided a 74:56 half-time lead for the Mavs.
However, the rockets had not given up yet, in the meantime the defense was a bit better again, while Dallas suffered some ball losses. The Dallas lead melted down to up to 10 points, while Harden picked up his fourth foul and stayed on the field for the time being. The Mavs now had difficulty under their own basket, Houston collected many misses and made another run to the end of the quarter. Nevertheless, the Mavs still led with 96:89.
Harden stayed on the field, there was no break for the MVP, but the guests seemed fresher and we got stops again. The Bank Unit around Barea started the offense again, after a long time there were some points again. Devin Harris was now running hot and wetting some three (one very deep), the lead grew again to 22 points within just five minutes (95:117). Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni threw in the towel and emptied his bench. Not much happened anymore, Isaiah Hartenstein still met a threesome.
Best scorers of the Mavs were Doncic and Harris (15 in the fourth quarter) with 20 points each, in addition Barea with 13 points and 12 assists recorded a strong double double. All starters scored at least 10 points. Maxi Kleber played a very solid game again with 9 points (3/4 FG, 2/3 Dreier) and 2 rebounds.
At Houston, Harden recorded his first triple-double of the season with 25 points (7/15 FG), 11 rebounds, 17 assists and 6 steals, but the bearded player also lost 8 balls. James Ennis, Clint Capela and Danuel House each contributed 18 points. Hartenstein played a total of almost 12 minutes, which he used to score 5 points (1/2 FG, 2/2 FT) and 3 rebounds.
Houston Rockets (9-11) vs. Dallas Mavericks (10-9) 108:128 (BOXSCORE)
J.J. Barea. The small Point Guard stands for the once again bear-strong bank of the Mavs. How Barea orchestrates the team when he’s on the field is a feast for the eyes and Houston didn’t have any answers either. With the Puerto Rican, Dallas used the lower bench to make the decisive runs. Also strong: Devin Harris, who sunk his first five threes and let Dallas breathe a sigh of relief in the fourth quarter.
P.J. Tucker. There is some laziness with the defense of the Rockets and also Tucker cannot be excluded there. He had a lot of problems with Doncic, he let himself be eaten several times and couldn’t clean up under the basket against Jordan as usual. In attack, his production consisted of threes, but he could hardly sink them. An airball without an opponent from the corner was symbolic of his appearance. 5 points (2/7 FG), 4 rebounds and a plus minus of -22 were noted in the box score.
Dallas opted for the strategy that every Rockets player except Harden should get points for Houston. The MVP had to face two defenders several times and made corresponding mistakes. On the other hand, this often left shooters of the rockets completely open, who could use Harden. This tactic worked as long as Houston stayed cold, but in the third quarter role-players like Danuel House made big plays and brought the Rockets back within striking distance – before the Dallas bench turned up a lot.