Mavericks Turn Tables On Rockets

Big second half propels Mavs to 121-103 win

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - For 21 glorious minutes, the Rockets looked to be well on their way to scoring a second straight shocking upset over one of their chief rivals on the road. Houston's shots were falling, the transition game was in full gear and Dallas appeared continuously confounded by the Rockets' version of small ball.

But as it turned out, this would be no sequel to the Red Nation uprising experienced in Utah one week ago. Instead, Dallas recovered in time to turn the tables on Houston, transforming a 17-point first half deficit into a comfortable 121-103 win.

The loss drops Houston (4-3) a game behind the Mavs (5-2) for first place in the Southwest Division, while proving to be doubly disappointing due to the sparkling way the Rockets started the contest.

Houston posted a whopping 37 points in the opening frame; one highlighted by Chuck Hayes' going coast-to-coast on a fastbreak after a steal, crossing over Dirk Nowitzki in the process, before dishing a perfect pass to Luis Scola for a layup. Shortly thereafter, it became the Aaron Brooks show as the Rockets' quicksilver point guard proved unstoppable while either blowing by his man on the way to the hoop or bombing away from long range. When the dust settled, Brooks had scored 14 points in the quarter, with his only miss coming on a desperation heave at the buzzer, and the Rockets were the proud owners of a 37-28 advantage.

The second quarter began with more of the same, as Brooks kept rolling and Carl Landry (19 points on 7-9 shooting for the game) provided plenty of pop off the bench. By the time David Andersen (who scored a career-high 13 points) flipped in a jump hook with 5:25 remaining, Houston's lead had ballooned to 56-39.

But at the three-minute mark, everything changed. Dallas rolled off ten straight points before halftime, allowing the Mavs to head to the locker room down just four, despite being thoroughly outplayed for the vast majority of the opening 24 minutes.

"I thought we really played free and we really attacked them and we had them on their heels for a second," said Shane Battier. "The problem is we didn’t end the half very well and we gave them a lot of momentum coming into the second half."

And Dallas was only too happy to capitalize on that momentum. The Mavericks grabbed the lead for good less than four minutes into the third quarter, as Houston's shooting suddenly went from scorching to ice cold. Much of that was the result of Dallas packing the paint in an effort to stymie penetration from the Rockets' point guards. With the interior no longer welcoming, Houston too often settled for outside jumpers and the Rockets' wayward marksmanship (6-23 from beyond the arc) cost them dearly. By the end of the third quarter, Houston trailed 83-74, setting the stage for Dallas to run away and hide in the final frame.

"Maybe it was too easy," lamented Rockets' Head Coach Rick Adelman, "We were making a ton of shots but we weren't stopping them at the other end. And then when it shifted the last four minutes of that second quarter we never got it back. They had it rolling at that point. We've got to learn that you can run and look for quick hitting shots, but when things don't go well, on the road especially, you've got to defend, you've got to run something. You've got to get all five people involved and we didn't do it."

Disappointed as they may be, the Rockets realize they have no time to waste wondering about what might have been. The Memphis Grizzlies descend upon Toyota Center Wednesday night, as Houston continues a challenging stretch which sees the club play 8 games in the span of 12 nights.

“You can’t let this one game get you down," said Brooks, who finished with a team-high 22 points, though only three of those came in the second half. "The beauty about this is league is that we do have a game tomorrow. We’ve got to come out with intensity, and we can’t allow teams to play harder than us. And I think that’s what [Dallas] did for two-and-a-half quarters. We’re going to have to play with a higher intensity without Mac and Yao. And we’re not as talented as some of these teams but we can’t allow these guys to execute or play harder than us and that’s what they did [tonight]."

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN

(When shots stopped falling, did the heads start hanging?): "One time I looked up there and we had 10 points in the quarter and they only had 16. But we weren't doing anything and then they got on a roll, and just rolled at the end of that third quarter to break it open. It's just something we've got to learn, you've got to run an offense and everybody's
got to be involved and I thought we did too much with just one guy trying to do it or two guys, and that's it."

(What were you doing right to get the 17 point lead?): "We were pushing the ball and making a lot of shots, getting the ball to the basket ourselves. But once they tightened up a little bit, it became real difficult for us."

AARON BROOKS

(On the 3rd quarter…) – “They did a good job, and we didn’t do such a good job. We took quick shots, they went on a run and we knew they were, and we got out of sync in our offense and we had been executing it well.”
 
(How did the Mavs look to you tonight compared to what you saw in the preseason?) – “They looked pretty good. They did what we thought they would do.”

SHANE BATTIER

(Dallas’ shots were falling and your guys’ shots weren’t falling…was it that simple?) – “You know Dallas is going to make runs here [at home]. They’ve done it for years and they’ve got guys who can make shots – Dirk and Jason Terry. You have to really guard the entire time and if you let down defensively they’re going to take advantage of it and that was a typical Mavericks run tonight.”

Mavs center Erick Dampier

(Talk about your huge game tonight) – “I think the guys are looking for me more around the basket and a lot of that is because of Jason Kidd.  He has the ball in his hands a lot so I try to present myself under the basket and try to score whenever I get the ball inside.  Whenever I get fouled, take my time, go to the free-throw line and knock down those shots.”

“We’ve really been doing a good job this year of making the extra pass.  Our defense really starts our offense.  We have to go out and defend and rebound consistently each and every night.  We have guys that can really put the ball in the basket and as long we go out there and work together and play hard good things are going to happen.”

Mavs guard Jason Kidd

“Our backs were against the wall early and Houston plays extremely hard and we knew that going into the game and they were making a lot of shots and we had to make a stand sooner and not later.  When we got all those stops to end the half that gave us the momentum we needed in the second half.”

(Talk about Damp’s game tonight?) – “He’s been huge and he’s helped us big time and not just on the defensive end, but on the offensive end where’s he’s been aggressive on the inside.  He’s been blocking shots and rebounding extremely well.  Our goal is to limit the opponent to one tough shot and let’s get out and go and Damp has been doing it from day one for us.  He wants the ball down low, he wants to be involved on the offensive end and not just set picks and get rebounds.  He wants to be involved in all aspects. He was really big for us tonight.”

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