DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Dallas Mavericks look to complete a
perfect five-game homestand Wednesday when they face the
Southwest Division-rival Houston Rockets.
The Mavericks won their fifth game in a row Saturday with a
121-101 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Dirk Nowitzki scored
34 points and Michael Finley added 33 for Dallas, which shot a
team-record 74 percent in the first half and reached triple
figures for the seventh consecutive contest.
The Mavs may have to try to extend their winning streak without
starters Josh Howard and Erick Dampier. Howard has been
suffering from flu-like symptoms while Dampier has been hampered
by a left knee injury.
If one or both are unable to go, it could be good news for
Houston's 1-2 punch of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.
In Dallas' 102-78 triumph over Houston on December 11, Howard
held McGrady, who scored a season-high 48 points in the teams'
previous meeting, to 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting and Dampier
allowed Yao to score 13 on 3-of-11 shooting.
In the Rockets' two losses to the Mavs, Yao has averaged just 13
points on 27 percent shooting.
Houston snapped a two-game losing skid with a 116-98 win over
the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. McGrady scored 20 of his 45
points in the fourth quarter and the Rockets made 58 percent
3-pointers to move back to .500.




