Dallas Mavericks vs. Houston Rockets: Postgame Grades and Analysis
The Houston Rockets looked like a legitimate title contender during a 111-99 Game 2 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday at the Toyota Center.
With most of their offensive options struggling to convert, the Rockets went inside to Dwight Howard, who looked as dominant as he has in years.
The All-Star center scored 28 points on 10-of-15 from the field and 8-of-11 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed 12 boards and blocked two shots.
Howard led a stifling defensive effort that held the Mavericks to 37.1 percent shooting, including 32.1 percent from their starters.
Monta Ellis led the way for the Mavs, scoring 24 points on 8-of-23 shooting.
| James Harden | B |
| Dwight Howard | A+ |
| Josh Smith | A+ |
| Trevor Ariza | D- |
| Jason Terry | B |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Dirk Nowitzki | D+ |
| Tyson Chandler | C- |
| Monta Ellis | C |
| Rajon Rondo | F |
| Richard Jefferson | F |
| Rest of Team | B+ |
Houston Rockets
James Harden: B
James Harden must've felt like he was in some kind of alternate reality, as he didn't carry anywhere near as heavy of a load as he typically does for the Rockets.
In fact, he spent a long portion of the fourth quarter on the bench, rooting on the suddenly unstoppable pick-and-roll combo of Howard and Josh Smith.
In the 34 minutes Harden did play, he struggled from the field but still managed to put up more points than shot attempts. His ability to get to the line almost guarantees that.
He finished with 24 points on 5-of-17 from the field and 13-of-13 from the stripe. He also handed out six assists and grabbed five rebounds.
Dwight Howard: A+
From the opening tip, it was clear that Howard was going to have the kind of game that was commonplace for him during his time with the Orlando Magic.
He was flying around on both ends of the floor like the 25-year-old version of himself. The one devoid of back, knee and attitude issues.
He was throwing down lob after lob, hitting free throws, changing opponents' shots and snagging rebounds all over the floor.
When Howard's playing with this kind of energy and athleticism, it's pretty easy to buy the Rockets as contenders.
As good as Howard was, the story of this game may well be Josh "Smoove" Smith, who absolutely stole the show like J.B. Smoove in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Throughout the second half, coach Kevin McHale had Smith run the offense, often putting him in pick-and-rolls with Howard. In those sets, Smith made Dirk Nowitzki's defense look tragic. To ask the 36-year-old Nowitzki to contain Smith as a ball-handler was just insane.
Possession after possession, Smith would blow by Nowitzki, wait for Howard's man to rotate over and then throw the lob to his wide-open finisher.
In the rare cases Dallas managed to make the second rotation, Smith showed the patience and vision to hit baseline cutters like Harden or Corey Brewer.
When all was said and done, Smith had 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Dallas had nothing resembling an answer.
Trevor Ariza: D-
It's a good thing Smith showed up the way he did, because Trevor Ariza and Terrence Jones had really bad nights.
Ariza scored just four points on 1-of-9 shooting, but he did grab five rebounds and played hard defensively.
Jason Terry: B
Jason Terry didn't have to do much either, but he magnified his role in just 24 minutes.
He's called upon to simply space the floor for Harden and Howard, and he did just that, going 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range on the way to eight points.
Rest of Team: B
Jones, who started at power forward, could never find a rhythm. He played just 22 minutes, left with a bloody nose twice and scored just five points on 1-of-6 shooting. He did have a solid game on the boards, though, grabbing six.
In addition to Smith, the Rockets got great effort from a couple of other reserves. Corey Brewer, as he typically does, ran the floor like a gazelle and scored 15 points. Backup point guard Pablo Prigioni added seven points, three rebounds and three assists.
Dallas Mavericks
Dirk Nowitzki: D+
It's tough to describe Nowitzki's performance as anything other than sad. The way he was going after rebounds (he had 13) showed how important this is to him, but he was moving about as well as a zombie from The Walking Dead when he was isolated with Smith or Jones on either end.
When Smith attacked him off the dribble, Nowitzki would just bend over at the waist, swipe at the ball and hope for the best behind him.
All of the energy he was expending on the boards and on defense clearly impacted his shooting, as he went just 3-of-13 on the way to 10 points.
Tyson Chandler: C-
Things got chippy between Howard and Tyson Chandler in the first half. From that point on, Howard just dominated Chandler.
The Mavericks center was put in a precarious situation, having to cover for Dirk in pick-and-rolls, but he struggled when isolated with Howard too.
He finished with 11 points and eight rebounds but shot just 2-of-6 from the field and surrendered a monster line to Howard.
Monta Ellis: C
With Nowitzki and Chandler struggling, Dallas desperately needed something from Monta Ellis. He gave them 24 points, but it took 23 shots to get there, and several of them were terrible.
It didn't matter who was on him or how much space he had, Ellis was willing to hoist dribble pull-ups over Smith, Brewer, Harden or anyone else matched up with him. That led to plenty of bricks and transition opportunities for the Rockets.
Rajon Rondo: F
The Rajon Rondo experiment has failed miserably in Dallas, and it may have hit a new low. For the first five minutes of the first quarter, Rondo looked like he didn't even want to be there.
He was playing slow (drawing an eight-second violation) and lackadaisical (giving up wide-open threes) before coach Rick Carlisle yanked him.
He sat for the next 15 minutes of game time before appearing for another minute before the half. During the halftime studio show on TNT, Charles Barkley said, "He's not engaged in this game. He's distracted. He's ready for free agency."
Rondo wound up playing 10 minutes and had four points on 2-of-4 shooting.
Richard Jefferson: F
With Chandler Parsons out with a knee injury, Richard Jefferson started at small forward. Things did not go well for him.
He scored seven points on 2-of-6 shooting and made no other positive contributions for the Mavs. No rebounds. No assists. No steals. And certainly no blocks.
Rest of Team: B+
The bench was the reason Dallas was in this game until the final few minutes. Al-Farouq Aminu and Amar'e Stoudemire were particularly impactful.
Aminu played with more energy on defense than any other Mav, finishing with nine points, four rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes.
Stoudemire, meanwhile, struggled on defense, often finding himself in that dreaded pick-and-roll with Dirk, but he did a good job on the other end. He finished with 3-of-3 shooting.
Then there was J.J. Barea and Raymond Felton, who were tasked with filling Rondo's role. They struggled from the field, combining to score 22 points on 8-of-23 shooting, but played with significantly more energy than the starter.
Coming Up Next
The series now shifts to Dallas for Game 3, where all eyes will be fixed on the situation with Rondo. He left Game 2 without speaking to the media, and it's difficult to come up with any reason to think things will be different at home.
Houston will simply need to do more of the same: exploit mismatches with athletic bigs like Howard and Smith and hope for a more efficient shooting night from Harden.
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.
