NBA Playoffs Gm 4: Rockets Grounded By Mavs 121-109

It seemed to good to be true.

The Houston Rockets had a commanding 3-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the first round and it seemed that they were poised for the sweep.

The momentum was certainly there.

But, the Mavs sent a message to our team that they weren’t willingly going to go out without a fight.

So this series has been extended at least for couple of days while this series shifts back to H-Town for Game 5.

I’m sure the Mavs didn’t want to get embarrassed with a sweep either.

That would’ve been the ultimate bragging rights between our fanbases if that were the case.

But I feel the Rockets will take care of business and close out this series come Game 5.

From the start of the game, it appeared as if the Rockets were on their way to getting their brooms out to sweep them out the door.

But some sputtering happened and the Mavs took full advantage of what the Rockets weren’t doing.

Let’s take a look at that.

The 1st quarter was one of dominance for the Rockets — Dwight Howard completely dominated the 1st quarter and there was nobody out there to stop him.

Surprisingly, he still didn’t command the double-team to which I’m assuming that Rick Carlisle didn’t want any of our other guys to make them pay and it them from where it hurts — likely the three-point line.

Howard was able to get 10 quick points in the quarter — especially a jaw-dropping alley-oop from Jason Terry that seemed to define the laws of gravity!

Although things were close for most of the quarter, the Rockets jutted out to a 10-2 run allowing them to lead the Mavs at the end, 34-25.

In the 2nd quarter, the Rockets still had lead but the Mavs got a bit more physical and displayed a lot more attitude starting with a Carlisle technical, followed by Devin Harris Flagrant Level 1 foul on Howard with 8:59 left.

That Harris foul was brutal as he tackled him to them ground as it appeared he was on his way to score two easy points.

It got Josh Smith so riled up at Harris but Howard quickly was able to dispel the unrest by holding him back and re-assuring that he had the situation under control.

Unfortunately, Howard missed the two free throws as a result of that flagrant call.

The Rockets had as much as a 41-31 lead with 8:24 left but the Mavs then went on 10-3 run to tie the game at 44-all after a Tyson Chandler put-back dunk.

Just how did the Mavs do it?

The Rockets simply were not getting back on defense in transition and allowing a lot of easy buckets for the Mavs.

Their defense was non-existent around the perimeter.

James Harden was also not present for close to half of the quarter as well but was inserted with 7:03 left.

Guess what happened?

J.J. Barea was the flavor of the moment for the Mavs, making key buckets and getting his teammates involved.

It seemed that with Rajon Rondo out of the Mavs’ offensive equation, it seemed to flow a lot better with Barea at the controls.

It also didn’t help that Howard had missed eight free throws up until that point when he was sent to the line.

The Mavs pulled away from the Rockets a bit, leading them at the half, 61-53.

Barea had already racked up 12 points and eight assists.

It got worse for the Rockets in the third as the Mavs continued to attack with the same game plan and the Rockets simply could not shoot their way out of it.

They were extremely cold and it seemed that there was nothing they could do to start warming up again as the Mavs clearly owned the momentum.

They went up as much as 21 points over the Rockets after a Harris layup with 2:37 left. Mavs 87, Rockets 66

To no avail, the Rockets trailed the Mavs big-time at the end of the third 94-75.

It wasn’t much better in the 4th either but the Rockets cut their deficit to nine points after Harden connected on technical foul free throw.

The technical foul was on Richard Jefferson as he and J-Smoove were getting into it as they were tussling in the paint against each other.

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J-Smoove was able to make a smart exit strategy by walking away from Jefferson; and, as a result, he wasn’t penalized either.

He was a big part of the Rockets deficit cut and already had 18 points on the night.

But the Mavs pushed themselves back up once again and never really looked back after that eventually defeating the Rockets 121-109.

What affected the Rockets was their cold shooting (46.9 percent FG, 22.6 percent 3-PT), their inability to defend and work for the second chance and being out-rebounded 52-38 for the game.

The Beard led the Rockets in scoring with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The leaders of our bench mob — J-Smoove and Corey Brewer had 23 points, six rebounds and 22 points, five rebounds respectively.

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That’s for a combined 45 points and 11 rebounds, nice work guys, just wish we could get over the hump.

Monta Ellis led the Mavs with 31 points while Barea had 17 points and 13 assists.

Al-Farouq Aminu (12) and Tyson Chandler (14) combined for 26 rebounds for the Mavs.

All in all, the Mavs really wanted to play a bit longer and it showed.

Without Rondo, it’s working for the Mavs, he was -17 when in the game but with Barea at the helm he was a +22 last night so I’m positive Carlisle will stay with that formula for Game 5.

But the Rockets will be back at home and our crowd will be extra loud to rally behind the team that will cause enough for a disadvantage for the Mavs!

NBA Playoffs Game 4: Houston Rockets Grounded By Dallas Mavs 121-109

By Brian K. Patterson | Apr 27, 2015

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