Mavericks-Rockets Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Dec 08 2012 1:21AM

The Houston Rockets still can't get the job done on the road.

It's been a far different story at home.

Looking to rebound from another lopsided road defeat, Houston goes for a seventh consecutive home win Saturday night when the Dallas Mavericks try to end their trip with an eighth straight victory in this Southwest Division matchup.

Trying to build off back-to-back home wins over Utah and the Los Angeles Lakers, the Rockets (9-9) were routed 114-92 at San Antonio on Friday.

The only real encouraging sign for Houston was that James Harden broke out of a three-game shooting slump with 29 points on 10 of 16 from the field. The rest of the team made a combined 27 for 79 shots (34.2 percent).

"The one thing that we've got to get better at and continue to work at is not allowing missed shots to affect other parts of your game," interim coach Kelvin Sampson told the Rockets' official website. "I thought our missed shots affected our effort on defense."

With back-to-back 22-point road losses, the Rockets have to feel good about starting a four-game homestand. Houston's last 7-0 run at the Toyota Center spanned March 14-April 3, 2011.

The Mavericks (9-10) will try to prevent that from happening on the final stop of their three-game trip.

Dallas bounced back nicely in Thursday's 97-94 victory over Phoenix after committing a season high-tying 22 turnovers in a 112-90 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers a night earlier.

"We played one of our strongest-willed games," coach Rick Carlisle said. "Difficult situation, losing time coming off the back-to-back and a rough one last night. Everybody played with a lot of heart, a lot of guts. It was really a war of attrition out there with the injuries and all the stuff going on."

Center Chris Kaman (sprained left ankle) and Shawn Marion (strained right groin) both could play Saturday after leaving Thursday's game with injuries.

Even if Kaman can go, little-used big man Brandan Wright likely earned himself more minutes after scoring a season-best 16 points on Thursday.

"I felt a little rusty in the beginning, but as I played more and more I started feeling real good," he told the Mavs' official website. "I started feeling like my old self again and then guys go down and coach rolled with me all the way till the end, so I had to step up."

Wright did that in the Mavs' only game at Houston last season, finishing with 14 points, a career-high seven blocks and six rebounds in a 101-99 overtime victory on March 24.

It was Dallas' third straight road win in this series. The Mavs' margin of victory during its winning streak over Houston is just 6.3 points.

After facing the Spurs on Friday for the first time since last season's Western Conference finals, Harden will now get reacquainted with Dallas. Last season while with Oklahoma City, Harden averaged 18.3 points - including 29 in the series clincher - as the defending champion Mavs were swept out of the playoffs.

Mavericks leading scorer O.J. Mayo, who increased his career-best average to 19.8 with 23 points on Thursday, has never won at Houston. Mayo averaged 10.0 points in seven losses there while with Memphis.

Mayo has 40, Mavs win in McHale's return

By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Posted Dec 09 2012 12:00AM

HOUSTON (AP) Chris Kaman scored half as many points as O.J. Mayo for the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.

Considering the way Kaman's left ankle looked, those 20 points were just as impressive to coach Rick Carlisle.

Mayo tied a career high with 40 points, including 10 in the last three minutes, to lift the Mavericks to a 116-109 victory over the Rockets in coach Kevin McHale's return to the Houston bench.

Kaman left the Mavericks' last game on Thursday night with a sprained left ankle. He started Saturday night and played more than 18 minutes despite the left side of his ankle being almost completely covered by a deep purple bruise.

"Kaman showed a lot of guts even being out there," Carlisle said. "He went out there and gave us everything he had. He's obviously struggling laterally, but to put up the scoring numbers that he did is phenomenal. It's proves a lot to the team."

Kaman also had seven rebounds for Dallas, and Vince Carter and Darren Collison had 12 points apiece.

"With guys down ... and hurting a little bit, guys came and battled tonight," Kaman said. "O.J. played an unbelievable game for us. We got stops at the end on (James) Harden when we had to."

Harden had 30 points at halftime, but the Mavericks slowed him down in the second half. He scored just nine points in the second half.

McHale rejoined the team on Saturday after almost a month away from the team, and two weeks after the death of his daughter.

"It meant a lot to have him in the locker room ... and it showed how much he wanted to be here because he's been through a lot and he's here with us working," Houston's Carlos Delfino said.

McHale said he was excited to be back and hoped it was the right time to return. He said after the game that he has a lot of work to do.

"It was different being out there again," McHale said. "I had been away for a long time and we had put in some stuff. I've got to get caught up, so these next few days will be good for us."

A three-point play by Harden cut the Dallas lead to two points before a jump shot by Mayo made it 109-104. A 3-pointer by Toney Douglas seconds later put Houston back within two with about a minute to go, but Mayo's 3 seconds later extended the lead and the Mavericks held on for the win.

Carlisle also raved about Mayo, who tied a season high with eight rebounds, and has scored more than 30 points three times this season.

"What he is showing over the first 20 games is that he has the ability to carry a team at times, and it was really impressive tonight," he said.

The Rockets battled back from a 19-point deficit with a strong second quarter to lead at halftime and were up by nine points with 7 1/2 to go. But Mayo got hot and the Rockets came up short as Dallas extended its winning streak in the series to eight games.

McHale took a leave of absence on Nov. 10 to be with his family as his daughter's health worsened. Alexandra "Sasha" McHale died Nov. 24 of complications from Lupus. She was 23.

Many of the Mavericks went over to McHale and hugged or patted him after introductions, and he received a standing ovation when the public address announcer welcomed him back to the team.

Dallas used a 13-2 run to take a 102-100 lead with about 4 1/2 minutes left. Carter scored five points to power the run, and Brandan Wright capped it with a dunk.

Chandler Parsons made the second of two free throws for the Rockets before Mayo scored five quick points to extend the Mavericks' lead to 107-101 with less than three minutes left.

Parsons finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Harden had nine assists and six rebounds.

The Rockets opened the second half with a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 76-67 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. The Rockets continued their hot 3-point shooting from the first half early in the quarter as Harden and Jeremy Lin both hit 3s to power that run.

Dallas got going after that and an 8-2 spurt got the Mavericks within 78-75 with about five minutes left in the third quarter.

Houston was up by eight near the end of the third quarter, but Jae Crowder's 3-pointer with 15 seconds left cut the Rockets' lead to 89-84 entering the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks were up by 19 points with less than two minutes left in the first quarter after a long 3-pointer by Carter and thanks in large part to a 16-point quarter by Mayo.

Houston used a 35-15 run after that to erase the deficit and take a 55-54 lead four minutes before halftime. Harden scored 17 points and Houston hit five 3-pointers in that stretch. Harden had two of them, and he waved three fingers to the crowd while running down the court after the second one.

The Rockets shot 70 percent and scored a season-high 42 points in the second quarter to just 40.9 percent shooting by the Mavericks to lead 66-63 at halftime.

NOTES: Houston's 42 second-quarter points marked the first time the Rockets have scored 40 points in a quarter since Dec. 31, 2010, against Toronto. ... Mayo has scored at least 20 points 11 times this season. ...

Notebook: Mavericks 116, Rockets 109

Matt Miller, For NBA.com
Posted Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:16 AM - Updated Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:16 AM

THE FACTS: All the Dallas Mavericks needed to earn their eighth consecutive victory over the Houston Rockets was a great start and finish from O.J. Mayo, as they spoiled Rockets' coach Kevin McHale's return to the sidelined and snapped Houston's six-game home winning streak with a 116-109 triumph on Saturday night at Toyota Center.

Mayo matched his career best with 40 points, grabbed a season-high eight rebounds and collected two steals. Chris Kaman scored 20 points and pulled down seven boards in less than 19 minutes and Vince Carter added 12 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Mavericks (10-10), who trailed by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter after squandering a 19-point first period advantage.

James Harden led Houston (9-10), which has lost back-to-back games, with 39 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Chandler Parsons chipped in with a double-double of 18 points and 10 boards.

QUOTABLE: "Unbelievable performance. What [Mayo is] showing over the first 20 games is that he has the ability to carry a team at times. It was really impressive tonight. He's shown a strong-willed mentality and is really hungry to win. ... You talk about an emotional rollercoaster of a game. It doesn't get any more crazy than this one tonight."

-- Dallas coach Rick Carlisle on Mayo

THE STAT: In a game in which Mayo and Harden lit up the scoreboard, it was Mayo who came through in crunch time. The fifth-year guard poured in 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting and committed only one turnover in the final 12 minutes, while Harden posted three points on 1-for-4 shooting to go with three turnovers. Mayo entered Saturday's contest 0-7 in his career when playing at Toyota Center.

TURNING POINT: After the Rockets claimed their largest lead of the game, 96-85 with 9:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks responded with a 22-5 run to claim a 107-101 advantage with 2:49 left to play. Dallas' defense delivered its best stretch of the night during the game-changing spurt, forcing four turnovers and limiting Houston to 2-for-10 shooting.

QUOTABLE II: "I really wanted to focus on the defensive end [in the fourth quarter]. ... We all imposed our will on the game."

-- O.J. Mayo on Dallas' final-period comeback

HOT: The Mavericks had their transition game clicking and mid-range jumpers falling in the opening period, as Dallas racked up a season-high 39 points on 68.2 percent shooting in the first quarter. Mayo paced the early offensive outburst with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. The Rockets answered the Mavericks' scorching start with a sizzling second quarter in which they scored a season-best 42 points on 70.0 percent (14-for-20) shooting. Harden netted 19 points and knocked down all six of his field-goal attempts in the period.

NOT: Elton Brand did not respond well to returning to a reserve role, finishing with only two points and four boards in nearly 15 minutes on the court. In fact, Carlisle was so disappointed with Brand's effort that he elected to play rarely used rookie Bernard James for a few minutes in the fourth quarter.

BAD MOVE: Houston, without question, is a below-average defensive team. But it has regressed into arguably the league's worst defense over the last seven games. Dallas became the Rockets' seventh straight opponent to net at least 101 points. Houston's last six opponents have combined to hit 50.4 percent (266-for-528) of their shot attempts.

QUOTABLE III: "It seemed like, earlier in the year, our defense is what fueled us. ... I don't want to say that we are concentrating too much on offense, but our offense is fine. It's just our defense [that is causing problems]."

-- Houston forward Patrick Patterson

NOTABLE: Fans in attendance greeted McHale, whose daughter Sasha died Nov. 24, with a standing ovation when his name was announced during the pregame lineup introductions. Several Mavericks greeted the Houston coach with hugs and pats on the back shortly before tip-off. ... With McHale roaming the sidelines again, Kelvin Sampson returned to his usual role as McHale's lead assistant. Houston went 7-6 under Sampson's leadership. ... Dallas' center Kaman, who suffered a sprained left ankle during Thursday's win at Phoenix, left the game during the third quarter and did not return. "His ankle's purple if you want to go look at it in the training room," Carlisle said. "He's obviously struggling laterally. ... He was just getting sore, and we knew we had to get a quicker guy out there." ... The Mavericks started Brandan Wright in place of ailing forward Shawn Marion, who suffered a strained groin Thursday. That marked Dallas' 10th different starting lineup in only 20 games this season. ... Six of the last seven meetings between these clubs have been decided by seven points or less. ... The Mavericks scored a season-high 32 points in the fourth quarter. ... The Mavericks improved to 6-1 when Mayo scores at least 25 points. ... Dallas won on the road for the first time this season (1-7) when allowing at least 100 points. ... Houston has trailed by at least 17 points at some point in each of their last three games. ... The Rockets fell to 3-9 this season against Western Conference opponents. ... Houston recorded its seventh 60-point half of the season, racking up 66 before halftime. ... The Rockets have scored an average of only 4.0 second-chance points over their last two games.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Monday vs. Sacramento, Wednesday @ Boston, Friday @ Toronto. For the Rockets, Monday vs. San Antonio, Wednesday vs. Washington, Friday vs. Boston.

• Mavericks: Marion, Nowitzki
• Rockets: Machado, White

• Mavericks: --
• Rockets: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #16 David Guthrie, #20 Leroy Richardson
• Attendance: 15726
• Duration: 2:27