Dallas Mavericks Vs Houston Rockets:- Analysis
The interstate rivals of the Texas state – the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets – squared off against each other for their second meeting of the regular season. The Rockets won the first game, played on the 7th of October, 109-82.
However, their game on the 15th was slightly different. The Mavericks played without the trio of Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons and Wesley Mathews. Due to this,Houston Rockets were a better looking team on paper but, that quite did not translate as they lost to the Mavericks (110-98).
Analysis
The Mavericks played a brand of team basket ball in the sense that they had 6 players with double digit scores, and it was Raymond Felton leading the pack with 23 points. The Rockets however had three people contributing in double digits. The Mavericks shot 47.8% from field, while the Rockets shot 38.1% from field.
Both teams shot poorly from the three point area as the Mavericks and Rockets shot 28.6% and 26.1% respectively. The Mavericks also had a +3 advantage in the rebounding aspect of the game. The game was very physically played, with a number of fouls committed as the Mavericks were looking to avenge the 4-1 loss they faced against the Rockets in the past season.
Turning point
The Houston Rockets were playing catch-up for most of the game, but the turning point came in the fourth quarter as former Mavericks player Jason Terry opened the fourth quarter with a three point bomb. From here on, the Rockets tried to begin their comeback run, but Derron Williams responded immediately with a three point shot of his own to keep the Mavericks at a safe distance.
As Jason Terry shot a floater, Charlie Villanueva answered it with a jump shot to keep the lead at 12 points, with the scoreline reading 89-77. Raymond Felton erupted from here as he drew a charge from James Harden on the defensive end and then Harden brought back the deficit to 12 points with 5:42 remaining.
Felton kept the Rockets at bay by shooting a three right after the time out to hamper the Rockets; momentum and Felton shot another three point dagger as the scoreline read 103-89 with less than three minutes remaining in the game clock.
In the end the Mavericks made a few clutch free throws to put the game beyond doubt. The Mavericks will go on road to play the 76ers and Rockets will be hosting the Boston Celtics after this game respectively.