Houston Rockets: What We Learned During the 1st Round of the Playoffs

The streak is officially over.

The Houston Rockets defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 103-94, to close out a 4-1 series victory in the opening round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs. 

With the win, the Rockets snapped a two-year losing skid in the opening round of the postseason and advanced to the second round for the first time since the 2008-09 season. 

Not only are fans looking ahead to the Rockets' second-round series against either the Los Angeles Clippers or the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, so is James Harden.

''It's just the beginning,'' Harden told the Associated Press. ''We've got bigger goals than this.'' 

Harden, a bona fide league MVP candidate this season, was undoubtedly a major reason why Houston broke its playoff slump. The bearded superstar has averaged 28.4 points per game through the first five games of the playoffs, good for third behind only Steph Curry (33.8) and Anthony Davis (31.5).

Harden mustered 28 points, including a three-pointer under duress with two-and-a-half minutes remaining to put Houston ahead by eight. He's part of the equation that has resulted in the Rockets leading all playoff teams in scoring per game (114.2).

While Harden has been a force so far in the playoffs, the rest of his mates are deserving of credit too.

As a team, Houston boasts a 47 percent field-goal percentage and a 35 percent mark from beyond the arc. The team ranks second and fifth among playoff teams, respectively, in those two categories. In particular, the Rockets have seen their role players step up at much-needed times.

Corey Brewer and Jason Terry added some offensive firepower in Game 1. Brewer dropped 13 of his 15 total points in the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer to stifle the Mavs late. Terry added 16 in place of the injured Patrick Beverley in the 118-10 win.

The much-embattled Josh Smith had a chance to make his playoff presence felt in Game 2. The Detroit Pistons castoff scored 15 points, brought in eight rebounds and added nine assists, including six alley-oops to Dwight Howard en route to a 111-99 victory.

Finally, the Rockets received major contributions from Terrence Jones in the fourth quarter of Game 5. Jones scored 10 of his 15 total points in the final frame, including a dunk that led the crowd pouring "MVP" chants in his direction. 

As reliable as Harden and the rest of the Rockets have been at scoring, Howard has been equally as dominant on the boards. Houston's center has hauled in an NBA postseason-leading 13.8 rebounds per game. More importantly, no other Rockets player has even bordered on Howard's production. Trevor Ariza ranks second on the team in the playoffs with 6.6 rebounds per game.

In other words, Howard is single-handedly shouldering the workload on the boards on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Howard scored 18 and had 19 rebounds in Game 5, in addition to four blocked shots.

But can Houston's blend of superstar talent and team-wide contributors persist into Round 2?

Awaiting their fate of the Clippers-Spurs series, this exact formula will be precisely what Houston needs to do in order to make it competitive and possibly come out on top. 

Like Houston, both Los Angeles and San Antonio have the talent to pull off the same feats. The Clippers have Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, while the Spurs can lean on Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli and Kawhi Leonard.

Final scores of the Rockets-Mavs series don't consistently indicate the tough time the Rockets had in this playoff battle. The Rockets slid by in a two-point game in the Game 3 victory and did so by allowing Dallas to score 128 points. The four quarters in both Games 4 and 5 were also competitive. 

The Rockets went a combined 3-5 against the likes of the Clippers and Spurs during the regular season. They split with the Clippers, losing the first two contests and evening out the series in the final two games. After defeating San Antonio early in the year, Houston dropped its final three games to the defending NBA champions, including two games played in a three-game span earlier in April.

Jordan was dominant throughout the Rockets-Clippers battles this regular season, leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 24 and 20 on Feb. 11 in a 110-95 loss. In the Rockets' two wins, Harden led the way with 24 and 21 points.

Howard presented the biggest threat in the games against the Spurs. Howard went for 32 and 16 in the Rockets' lone win this season. Parker and Duncan went off in the final two contests earlier in April, scoring 27 and 29 in winning efforts, respectively.

Houston's saving grace is the fact that the team is finally close to full strength and at the right time. The Rockets will also bask in the extra rest they'll have as the Clippers and Spurs finish out a lengthy, grueling series.