Houston Rockets Vs. Dallas Mavericks: Game 3: Sneak Peek Analysis
What a difference one game makes. The Houston Rockets were able to knuckle down, concentrate and focus heavily in regard to what had been ailing them.
What a difference a game makes. The Houston Rockets were able to knuckle down, concentrate and focus heavily in regard to what had been ailing them.
Yes, I’m talking about the defense.
They mustered up some confidence and inspiration to partake in something so important and it resulted in them being the victor Friday night, winning 106-98.
The defense was quite bad in the first half but as the game wore on and after the 2nd half, the team was committed to ensuring that they wouldn’t succumb for such a minute reason.
The shots were falling, their opponent was missing and they were able to control both ends of the floor effectively.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you play the game of basketball and it’s essential to have ANY type of success in this league.
But any way, the Houston Rockets will take on the Mavs once again in a rematch in the guise of their home opener tonight at Toyota Center.
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The Houston Rockets will continue with their tried-and-true formula but it will be interesting to see how the team responds with Dirk Nowitkzi likely back in the lineup tonight.
So who’s leading the charge for the Mavericks?
Harrison Barnes is the current leader in scoring (25.0 PPG), Andrew Bogut in rebounds (9.0 RPG), Jose Juan Barea and Deron Williams are tied (5.5 APG), Dirk Nowitzki in steals (2.0 SPG) and blocks (2.0 BPG).
Let’s talk about what the Mavericks do well.
They’ll be efficient shooters. The Mavericks were 13th in the league in effective field goal percentage in 2015-16, shooting 50.2 percent as a team.
They’re currently holding at 50.5 percent after just one game which likely means that they’re right on track for this season as well. That’s good for 11th in the league.
They’ll take care of the basketball. The Mavs are ranked 11th in the league in turnover ratio with 11.0 percent of their possessions ending in a turnover.
They ended the 2015-16 season ranked 2nd at 12.0 percent so I see this trend continuing with the bunch they have.
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Injuries:
Patrick Beverley had successful surgery last Tuesday — it was a minor knee scope to clean up some the damage that had occurred from his injury. He will be OUT tonight and is expected to be MIA for at least three weeks.
Nene Hilario has a bruised right thigh but it seems as if he’ll play through it. He had
Devin Harris re-injured his woeful left foot in the Mavs’ last preseason game this past Friday. He was a scratch in their opener Wednesday and will be re-evaluated in three weeks.
Dirk Nowitzki was ill and missed Friday’s game as a result. He did go through a light workout Sunday and should be good to go for tonight.
Source(s): Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com and Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News
Three Things to Watch:
- James Harden vs. Wesley Matthews
- Eric Gordon vs. Deron Williams
- Trevor Ariza vs. Harrison Barnes
- (Bonus) Clint Capela vs. Andrew Bogut
Prediction:
108-101 in a Houston Rockets’ win!
The Rockets are back at home to take on the Mavs at Toyota Center.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT.
The game will be televised on ROOT Sports Southwest and broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM (KBME), Sirius/XM/SiriusXM Internet 890 and La Ranchera 101.7 FM (KNTE) & 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.
Go Rockets!