Houston Rockets 103 at Dallas Mavericks 121
It was truly a tale of two halves in Dallas on Tuesday night.
In a game built as the battle for the early lead in the Southwest Division, the Dallas Mavericks struggled out of the gate and fell behind by 17 points in the first half to the Houston Rockets. Dallas responded with excellent defensive intensity in the second half, a tireless effort from center Erick Dampier on the glass and explosive scoring from sixth man Jason Terry off the bench to win their second straight game, eventually blowing the Rockets out 121-103 on the home floor at the American Airlines Center.
(Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
Dampier's interior presence on the galss powered Dallas to the win
"We just were getting our tails kicked and the guys got angry and played a lot harder and with a lot more purpose," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "That started the turnaround. The play in the first half was really poor."
For the second straight night the Dallas Mavericks' starting lineup was intact, as Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Dampier prepared to do battle with their divisional rivals from the southern sector of the state.
To start the game Dampier carried the Mavs inside the paint, while Howard torched Houston from the outside to lift Dallas to an early 10-4 lead. When Howard picked up his second quick foul with 6:08 left in the first, Terry entered the game during a Houston hot streak, as the Rockets rallied to take a 16-14 lead after a Shane Battier 3-pointer.
The Mavs came right back, when Drew Gooden (strained rib cage) returned from his four-game absence. But Dallas struggled to slow down the quickness and shooting ability of Aaron Brooks. After Brooks' 3-pointer gave Houston a 45-35 lead, Terry's driving three-point play with 43.2 seconds left in the quarter kept Dallas in the game.
"We didn't spot them points. Give them a little bit of credit. Aaron Brooks came out extremely hot," Terry said.
Behind 14 points from Brooks, the Rockets closed the quarter up 37-28. While both teams shot well in the period, Dallas' seven turnovers in the first proved to be their downfall early. The Mavs also gave up 18 points in the paint in the period.
Brooks continued his scoring assault as the second quarter began, giving the Rockets a 42-30 lead on his third 3-pointer of the first half. The Houston lead grew to 15 (50-35), leading Carlisle to call for a timeout to regroup with 7:31 left in the half.
"We got scored on 11 straight times at one point. It's embarrassing how poorly we were playing, and give them credit because they were aggressive and making shots and driving the ball, persistent defensively and they had something to do with it," Carlisle said.
After Dallas fell behind by 17, the Mavericks found a boost from the two players that carried the team to begin the game. Dampier's emphatic offensive rebound and hook shot, followed by Howard's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 11 (56-45) with 4:26 remaining in the first half.
After Carl Landry powered Houston back ahead by 14, Kidd found Dampier above the rim for a highlight reel alley-oop finish.
"I think the guys are looking for me more around the basket and a lot of that is because of Jason Kidd," Dampier said. "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."
Kidd then got Dallas' transition game in gear, finding Marion on the break for a score. Back-to-back Nowitzki scores helped Dallas finish on a 10-0 run the last 3:03 of the half to go into the break down 61-57.
The Rockets out-shot Dallas 52 to 48 percent in the half, while also winning the rebounding edge 20-12. Brooks led all scorers at the half with 19 points, while Landry added 13 off the Rockets' bench. Dallas was led by Nowitzki's 14 first half points, while Dampier provided 10 in the middle.
"In a 48-minute game, we're not going to have the luxury of having a bad half and then saying okay now we're going to kick it in," Carlisle said. "You can't fllip a switch. Teams are too good. The game is too challenging, and you're men not machines."
Perhaps the coach spoke accurately of most nights, but as for Tuesday night, the Mavs played like a machine in the second half.
"We got kind of overwhelmed by their energy in the first half," Marion said. "We were able to whip up our energy and get it going in the second quarter and make the big run to close the half out. We just carried it over into the second half and did what we had to do to get the win."
The third period started with the Mavs' run expanding to 14-0, tying the game at 61-all. Kidd's spinning layup with 9:45 on the clock gave Dallas its first lead since 5:02 in the first quarter. After the two teams exchanged blow for blow, the Mavericks emerged ahead behind stellar defensive rotation and timely 3-point shooting from J.J. Barea. Dallas closed the quarter up 83-74 after holding Houston to 5-of-22 shooting in the third quarter. The Mavs outscored the Rockets 26-13 in the third.
In the fourth the Mavericks looked to finish off the win, and Terry's circus shoot and subsequent foul gave Dallas a 12-point advantage with 11:11 remaining. Behind Dampier's dominance on the glass and Marion's low-post scoring, the Mavericks turned what was once a double-figure deficit into a decisive lead.
Terry's transition dunk over Battier's out-stretched arm gave Dallas a 98-85 lead with 6:07 on the clock. Dallas then found the touch from long range, as the sixth man extraordinaire, Terry, nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 4:29 remaining to keep Houston at bay. Nowitzki's three from the top of the key at the 3:20-mark capped off the win, sending Dallas up 110-91 and leading both teams to empty their benches.
With 2:31 on the clock, Dampier exited the game to a standing ovation with 14 points and a staggering 20 rebounds. The Dallas bench then secured the 18-point win.
"He (Dampier) was great. He was not only a presence around the basket, he was a force. The numbers are monster numbers, so without him we would have been in real trouble tonight," Carlisle said.
Dampier, who was left off of the NBA All-Star ballot, played like an All-Star caliber player on Tuesday night, collecting his eighth career 20-plus rebound game.
"It was disappointing not to see him on that ballot, but I promise if he continues to work hard and do the things that he's doing for this team then he will be an All-Star," Terry said.
"We have to go out and defend and rebound consistently each and every night," Dampier said. "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."
After Brooks' 19-point first half, the Dallas defense held the young point guard to just three in second half.
"We just did a better job guarding him," Carlisle said about the Dallas defense on Brooks in the second half. "It wasn't just one guy left on an island, our whole team was reacting to what was going on."
Terry scored a game-high 24 points and Nowitzki added 23 of his own. Barea and Howard added 14 points, while Marion pitched in 10 more. Kidd benefited from the balanced-scoring night, dishing out a game-high 11 assists.
Brooks' 22 led the Rockets, while Landry finished with 19 off the bench.
Dallas out-shot Houston 55 percent to 43 percent on the night, holding the Rockets to 31 percent shooting in the second half.
Behind Dampier, Dallas dominated the glass, winning the rebounding edge 46-37. The Mavs torched Houston in the paint, outscoring the Rockets 60-44 inside.
The Mavericks next play four straight on the road beginning on the second night of a back-to-back, meeting the rival San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night with the game airing on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD at 7:30 p.m. CT.
"Life in the Southwest Division in the NBA is one of the most challenging things you can be involved with. I love it. I love the challenge. I think our players do to, but we know we have to get better," Carlisle.
Dallas returns to the American Airlines Center on Oct. 18, when the Mavs host the Spurs. The game will air locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD and nationally on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.
Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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