Dallas Mavericks vs. Houston Rockets: Postgame Grades and Analysis
James Harden scored 24 points, Terrence Jones added 19 and the Houston Rockets handled the Dallas Mavericks, 118-108, at the Toyota Center Saturday night to take Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
The Rockets jumped all over the Mavericks right out of the gate, taking an early 15-point lead. However, the Mavericks would erase all of that deficit in the second quarter and actually took a one-point advantage.
The lead was short-lived, as Houston was able to go into the locker room with a 59-55 edge at halftime. It stretched the lead back to double figures in the third quarter before Dallas made yet another run, trimming the deficit to five early in the fourth.
From then on, the Rockets took over and ended up leading by double digits for much of the final 12 minutes.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 24 points.
Houston shot 45 percent from the floor, going 10-of-25 from three-point range and 32-of-45 from the free-throw line.
The Rockets also got a huge lift from their reserves, most notably Corey Brewer. Brewer scored 15 points off the pine, and head coach Kevin McHale praised his bench after the game, per Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle:
Dallas made 44 percent of its shots but went just 6-of-17 from beyond the arc. It also attempted only 17 free throws, making 14.
To make matters worse, the Mavericks committed 17 turnovers. Head coach Rick Carlisle was not pleased about that, per Nick Mathews of the Houston Chronicle:
Game 2 is Tuesday night at the Toyota Center. You can catch the action at 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
| Dirk Nowitzki | B+ |
| Rajon Rondo | B- |
| Monta Ellis | C- |
| Chandler Parsons | D |
| Tyson Chandler | A- |
| Rest of Team | C- |
| James Harden | A- |
| Dwight Howard | B+ |
| Josh Smith | D |
| Trevor Ariza | A- |
| Terrence Jones | B+ |
| Rest of Team | A+ |
Dallas Mavericks
Dirk Nowitzki: B+
Nowitzki had it going offensively.
The big German scored 24 points off a 10-of-14 clip, taking advantage of mismatches and hitting his trademark fall-away jumpers.
Just about all of Nowitzki's work came inside the arc, as he only attempted one three-pointer (and made it).
While he struggled a bit defensively, he helped keep the Mavericks in the game with his smooth offensive performance and contributed eight rebounds.
That being said, he did commit six turnovers, which knocks his grade down a peg.
Rajon Rondo: B-
We saw glimpses of playoff Rajon Rondo in this one.
It mainly occurred in the second quarter, where Rondo put in 11 of his 15 points. He got to the basket at will, knocked down jumpers and had the ball on a string.
Rondo was also able to get into the lane several times in the third period, but his layups went halfway down and came out.
He finished with 15 points off 7-of-16 shooting, dishing out five assists.
Monta Ellis: C-
Aside of a buzzer-beating triple he hit to end the third quarter, Monta Ellis was ineffective for most of the evening.
Ellis scored 16 points, but did so on 16 shots, making just five of them. He looked out of control at times and forced up mid-range jumpers early in the shot clock, killing any momentum Dallas had.
There were a couple of times where Ellis could have gotten the ball to Nowitzki (who had mismatches), but failed to do so.
Chandler Parsons: D
Chandler Parsons has been hindered by a knee injury recently, and it was clearly affecting him in Game 1.
Parsons labored for most of the night, limping around the court and getting virtually no lift on his jumpers, floaters and layups.
Parsons shot just 5-of-15 from the floor, recording 10 points. He missed all three of his three-point attempts and did not get to the free-throw line once.
He added five rebounds in a lackluster outing.
Carlisle said he would keep an eye on Parsons, per Mathews:
Let's hope he is okay for Game 2.
Tyson Chandler: A-
Tyson Chandler was great.
The big man racked up 11 points and 18 rebounds, eight of those boards coming on the offensive end. Without Chandler keeping possessions alive, Dallas would have been in an even bigger hole early.
Chandler also did a solid job on Dwight Howard in the post, preventing him from getting ideal position.
There were a couple of instances where Chandler missed a rotation defensively, and Nowitzki let him hear about it, but otherwise, he had a very nice game.
Rest of Team: C-
Amar'e Stoudemire was brutal.
The big man went a putrid 2-of-12 from the field in 16 minutes, forcing up contested shots in the post and taking some low-percentage turnaround jumpers.
J.J. Barea, however, was solid, scoring 12 points off a 6-of-9 clip. When the Mavericks were down early, he helped keep things under control by making a few buckets.
Al-Farouq Aminu provided some decent energy, grabbing six boards and blocking two shots in 18 minutes.
Houston Rockets
James Harden: A-
While Harden did not shoot the ball well at all, going just 4-of-11, he did his typical Harden thing where he lived at the free-throw line.
Harden frustrated the Mavs by drawing contact for much of the night and ended up parading to the charity stripe 17 times because of it. He made 15 free throws which comprised the bulk of his 24-point outing.
The MVP candidate also did an incredible job facilitating the offense, tallying 11 assists in 39 minutes. Plus, he committed just two turnovers.
Solid game for Harden.
Dwight Howard: B+
Howard only played 17 minutes due to foul trouble, but his impact on the game was blatantly obvious when he was on the floor.
Dwight made his presence known early, blocking four shots in the first quarter alone. He swatted five shots in total and altered countless others by his mere presence alone.
Howard finished with 11 points and five rebounds, throwing down a few dunks and throwing his weight around inside.
Josh Smith: D
Josh Smith did not have a very good night.
He did have 11 points and seven rebounds, but he did not shoot the ball well, going 5-of-14. Some of the shots he took were the ones he was maligned for in Detroit: long twos with time left on the shot clock.
Smith also committed four turnovers in 25 minutes and missed three of his four free-throw attempts.
Trevor Ariza: A-
Quietly, Trevor Ariza had a very effective contest.
The wing posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards and even played the role of distributor, finishing with six dimes.
Most importantly, Ariza hit a couple of big shots. He went 3-of-6 from the floor and buried both of his long-range tries. To add on, he went a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe.
Ariza chipped in three steals, as well.
Terrence Jones: B+
While Terrence Jones shot just 6-of-15, he did plenty of other things to help Houston earn the win.
Jones recorded 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists, so like Ariza, he displayed tremendous versatility. He made some terrific lob passes to Howard and showed great control, as evidenced by his zero turnovers.
Jones also went 7-of-11 from the free-throw line.
Rest of Team: A+
Corey Brewer was nothing short of tremendous.
The high-octane reserve drained three back-breaking treys in the fourth quarter and was all over the floor during the final 12 minutes. He also made some fine plays in transition and was unquestionably the X-factor down the stretch. Brewer ended with 15 points off 5-of-11 shooting.
Jason Terry was great, too, tallying 16 points in a throwback-type outing. He went 6-of-10 from the floor and drilled four three-pointers on his former team.
Finally, rookie big man Clint Capela was very effective in relief of Howard, totaling eight points and six rebounds, as well as throwing down an emphatic alley-oop in the third quarter. Capela also played some mighty fine post defense on Stoudemire. McHale had good things to say about Capela, per ClutchFans:
Perhaps Capela could be an X-factor with Donatas Motiejunas out.
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