Houston Rockets Hustle Past Dallas Mavericks 95-92

The odds makers said it couldn’t possibly be done by the Houston Rockets.

The Dallas Mavericks are a stronger team than the injury-depleted Rockets they said.

The team took all of those comments, strung them together and used that as fuel to motivate themselves to win the basketball game.

I have to admit, that the way the team was able to pick apart the Mavs was nothing short of inspiring.

They could’ve just given up because they didn’t have Dwight Howard or Terrence Jones.

No excuses.

It was time to lay it all on the line.

And did they.

This was perhaps the best defensive performance that I’ve seen all season — they got the job done when it counted!

They held the Mavs to 92 total points — 19 below what they’ve been averaging this season (111.3).

Nov 22, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard

Patrick Beverley

(2) shoots a three point shot over Dallas Mavericks forward

Chandler Parsons

(25) during the first half at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Both teams shot well right out of the gate with Patrick Beverley putting the Rockets on the board with a three. James Harden would chip in another three in addition to another Beverley three to keep the team within the game.

For a moment there, Jameer Nelson and Chandler Parsons were matching our guys bucket-for-bucket. Rockets 9, Mavs 9

It stayed quite close throughout the 1st quarter with the Rockets briefly taking a seven-point lead with 9-0 run capped off with a Donatas Motiejunas put-back with 8:14 left. The score was 16-9.

The Mavs battled back and ended up being tied 29-29 at the end of the 1st.

It was all Rockets at the start of the 2nd quarter and they lead by as much 12 points because the three-ball was falling. Kostas Papanikolaou, Beverley, Jason Terry, Trevor Ariza all contributed to that three-ball renaissance capped off with Harden sinking two free throws to put the Rockets up 51-43.

Nelson and Dirk Nowitzki both stopped the run by knocking down a three and hitting two free throws respectively cutting their deficit to seven.

Harden then put them at bay with his patented step-back jumper with 1:33 left in the first half. Rockets 55, Mavs 46

Harden once again put an exclamation point of the end of the 2nd half with making a three with one second left putting the Rockets up 60-51 at the close. He already 18 points on the night.

The third quarter was perhaps their best offensively — Beverley started it out with a three and the Rockets kept shooting their to an 18-point lead with 4:24 left with another Harden three-ball. Rockets 73, Mavs 55

That was all sparked with a 7-0 run that had lasted three minutes as the Mavs could not buy a basket.

Parsons stopped the Rockets surge with a layup along with a couple of buckets by Monta Ellis and a Devon Harris three to climb back into the game and their deficit was cut nine to end the third. Rockets 77, Mavs 68

Nov 22, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard

James Harden

(13) defends against Dallas Mavericks guard

Monta Ellis

(11) during the fourth quarter at the Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Mavericks 95-92. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavs continued their hot shooting and got closer with the likes of J.J. Barea who chipped in five critical points to put the Mavs within three of the Rockets lead.

The Mavs took the lead with 5:27 left with Harris getting a three-pointer the old-fashioned way off a Tarik Black foul behind-the-arc. Mavs 83, Rockets 81

Those were the eventual components of a 13-0 run to lead the Rockets by five — they couldn’t seem to get off 81 points scored until Motiejunas sank a free throw with 3:14 left. Mavs 86, Rockets 82

The rest of the way, both teams made their living at the free throw line and Harden certainly made his defenders pay by making several trips there down the stretch.

The Rockets clamped down on defense and did what was needed to win all the way up to the last play with 5.4 seconds left.

The Rockets were up 95-92 — the eventual final score — the Mavs had two opportunities to tie the game but Nowitzki clanked and Ellis did so as well after a Mavs’ offensive rebound.

So the Rockets walked away as the victors — playing hard-nosed defense at the game’s most critical moments.

They did everything they needed to do — limit the Mavs’ scoring and pressuring their bigs as well as Ariza neutralizing Parsons.

Nov 22, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward

Donatas Motiejunas

(20) charges into Dallas Mavericks guard

Jameer Nelson

(14) during the first half at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The team needed a huge game out of Harden and they got it.

He had 32 points, eight rebounds, four dimes off 12-for-13 free throw shooting. This is his 4th 30-point or greater game this season and he’s tied for the league-lead with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

Beverley chipped in 20 points and five rebounds including going 6-for-11 from three-point land!

Motiejunas played 37 gritty minutes collecting his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Although it wasn’t a great night offensively for Papanikolaou, Ariza and Tarik Black they sharpened up on their defense to help the team win.