Dallas Mavericks vs. Houston Rockets: Live Score and Analysis for NBA Preseason

The Houston Rockets thoroughly dominated the Dallas Mavericks 109-82 Wednesday night in a preseason contest between first-round opponents from last spring's NBA playoffs.

Houston played without Dwight Howard, Ty Lawson, Trevor Ariza and Terrence Jones, but James Harden led the team with 19 points despite playing all of his 20 minutes in the first half, as the Rockets raced out to a 67-47 lead at the intermission.

Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons, Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews from Dallas were also out for a variety of reasons, but the team's lack of youth and depth showed as Houston outhustled and simply had more talent on the floor than the Mavericks did.

Some of that Rockets talent included Clint Capela, a promising young center from Switzerland. Capela had a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds, overwhelming the Mavs bigs inside with his athleticism and physicality. Corey Brewer played his typical energy-filled game off the bench with 16 points, Patrick Beverley knocked in four threes for 12 points and rookie Sam Dekker played well with another dozen points.

For the Mavericks, free-agent signee John Jenkins led the team with 19 points. He could end up playing a big role early in the season with Williams, Matthews and Parsons all recovering from injuries. J.J. Barea also chipped in 14, playing mostly in the first half.

The Rockets, now 1-1 in the preseason, host the Orlando Magic Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. Dallas, which dropped to 0-2 in exhibition play, will head to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder next Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.