Houston Rockets Fall Short Against Dallas Mavericks 111-100

The Houston Rockets were back in action after being off for nearly a week in observance of the annual NBA All-Star Weekend break.

It was good to see my team, even though it had only been a week, it felt like I had been missing an old friend.

The NBA wasted no time in ensuring the Rockets were challenged right out of the gate after the break against the Dallas Mavericks, an offensively-loaded basketball team.

And it was potent.

But I think the Rockets held their own despite the fact that they were facing the league’s 3rd-best offensive in terms of efficiency.

The Rockets hung tough throughout the 1st quarter and even sprinted out to a 13-4 lead with Joey Dorsey coming out firing leading the charge.

Feb 20, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard

James Harden

(13) laughs while guarding Dallas Mavericks guard

Rajon Rondo

(9) during the first quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

He seemed to really set the tone at first with a dunk to break their seal and a monster jump bank shot.

I was quite surprised to see the Dorsey was the one who did that!

James Harden contributed as he usually does by drawing a foul off Dirk Nowitzki for two free throws and hitting a big-time three-pointer.

But the Mavs answered with a Chandler Parsons three-pointer, an Monta Ellis finger foll and a Tyson Chandler alley-oop dunk to close their deficit to two. Rockets 13, Mavs 11

The teams continued to trade baskets until about the 1:30 mark where Al-Farouq Aminu had a putback layup followed by a Devin Harris three to lead the Rockets 24-20 at the end of the 1st.

At the start of the 2nd quarter, the Mavs started to pull away with a 7-0 run to lead the Rockets 37-24 with 8:24 left after a Rajon Rondo pull-up.

The Mavs pretty much took control from there leading the Rockets 54-43 at the half.

The Rockets had gotten ice-cold from the field as the Mavs were connecting on just about everything that was hurled up.

The team was barely shooting 40 percent at the half and already had 12 turnovers with the Mavs taking advantage of just about every misfortune that the Rockets had.

It was more of the same for the 3rd quarter as the Rockets got as close as nine with an Trevor Ariza three-pointer but the Mavs still kept the Rockets at bay.

Feb 20, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward

Donatas Motiejunas

(20) dribbles as Dallas Mavericks forward

Dirk Nowitzki

(41) defends during the game at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

They led by 20 points at the end of the third. Mavs 87, Rockets 67

Then the Rockets went to work in 4th to get themselves back in the game, cutting their deficit to 10 points accompanied by a 9-0 led by the Beard on a driving bank shot. Mavs 92, Rockets 82

Then the Rockets got a little closer after another Harden drive in the paint with a Ariza three getting the Rockets within five, the closest they had been since close to the beginning of the game.

But the Rockets could not Aminu, who dunked, tipped and rebounded his way into putting Mavs back up by nine. Mavs 98, Rockets 89

After a timeout called by Kevin McHale, Jason Terry hit a big three to cut the Rockets deficit back to six points with 2:42 left.

Harris was then called for a shooting block foul on Terrence Jones to give him an opportunity at the charity stripe.

Feb 20, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard

Jason Terry

(31) goes after a ball in front of Dallas Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo (9) during the game at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

He missed the first and made the second attempt after Nowitzki committed a lane violation putting the Rockets back within five with 2:15 left. Mavs 98, Rockets 93

But the Mavs went on a 6-0 run to put themselves back up by 11 points with 1:08 left to take the lead for good.

The Rockets attempts to get back in the game were with effort but were futile compared the Mavs’ efforts to put things away. Final Score: Mavs 111, Rockets 100

This was another one of those games that I felt we could’ve won but just could not buy a basket down the stretch.

Ariza had wide-open three-point opportunities but just could not connect.

It never ceases to amaze me how a professional basketball player can miss a shooting opportunity that affords unfettered access to the views of the rim.

The Beard led all Rockets scorers with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists off 6-for-14 FG, 3-for-5 three-point FG and 11-for-13 FT.

Terrence Jones nearly had a double-double throwing in nine points and nine boards.

The scoring attack for the Mavs was quite balanced with Harris and Aminu leading the way with 17 points each.

The Rockets ended up 21 turnovers on the game off 41.4 percent shooting from the field and 32.4 percent from behind-the-arc.

At one point, the shooting got so bad from the three that they had fallen to about 21 percent ensuring that my head was held in hands because it was cringing to watch.

Oh well, it’s on to the next one and Rockets will be back at it tonight.