Dallas Mavericks @ Houston Rockets on November 1, 2013

When one looks back at Houston’s long chase for a superstar, from Bosh to Melo to the Pau/Nene “basketball reasons” trade, one should also note that Dallas has been undergoing the same chase to put a superstar next to Dirk for nearly as long.  It pursued Lebron James back during the infamous 2010 free agency by using Erick Dampier’s unguaranteed contract as a potential sign and trade piece and the at the time intriguing prospect Rodrigue Beaubois ( who today is out of the league), and then split apart a championship team to get either Deron Wiliams, Chris Paul, or Dwight Howard, only to be turned down by all three.  As John Eby noted in today’s Rockets Daily, Mark Cuban has not exactly been a happy camper over these failures, as he declared that the past successes of the Mavericks should trump minor things like actually having good players that fit with Howard.

So, here they are.  And yet despite all these failures, this Dallas team is still predicted by many to make the playoffs.  Dirk is still Dirk, as he finished last season extremely well despite struggling through the first half with injuries.  Jose Calderon is an excellent passing point guard.  Monta Ellis may not have it all, but he can get hot (not to mention that he is fully capable of succeeding Jason Terry’s legacy of being better than Jordan whenever he plays Houston, if this ridiculous buzzer last year is any indication.)  Rick Carlise is one of the best coaches in the league.  Vince Carter has refashioned himself into an excellent role player after poor stints with the Magic and the Suns.  Their defense may indeed be utterly terrible, especially since Samuel Dalembert is no defensive anchor as his stint with the Rockets in 2011-12 demonstrated, but it’s still a veteran, tough team.

As for the Rockets?  There frankly is plenty to worry about for tonight’s game, even though only one team will enter the court with championship aspirations.  Houston looked very stiff offensively using the Howard-Asik combo against the Bobcats, and Dirk can certainly do a much better job hurting the Twin Towers’s defense from range than Josh McRoberts.  He also possesses the post play to keep Omri Casspi and Chandler Parsons from easily guarding him.  Even if Howard-Asik can shut down the paint, Dallas is good enough of a jump shooting team that they very well could win the game without needing to score huge amounts of points in the paint.

Furthermore, Houston is already trying to handle the injury situation.  Patrick Beverley and James Harden did not take part in yesterday’s practice, and both are expected to be game time decisions. While I would expect both of them to play, whether they will be able to go at full steam is another matter, especially since Harden was clearly not himself for large stretches of the game against Charlotte.

Yet despite these problems, whether it is that Dallas has assembled a good veteran team, the injury concerns, or how Houston will guard Dirk, the Rockets have accumulated two superstars, while the Mavericks still only have one aging star who was drafted back in 1998.  Houston should be expected to win what will be a hard-fought, tough battle as old clashes with the new.

Rotation Spotlight:

 

Dejuan Blair, (6’7’’ PF/C, Pittsburgh)

I’ll openly confess that San Antonio is by far my second-favorite team in the league, which means that I’ve seen quite a bit of Dejuan Blair.  One thing to note is that Blair is one of those rare players where opposing fans have a higher opinion of a player than the team’s own fans do.  Homerism means that it’s almost always the opposite.  Blair is always praised for his toughness (which comes back to the fact that he has no ACLs), his rebounding, and such, but those who don’t watch the Spurs miss that he has terrible defensive awareness, showed utterly no progression in 4 years under Gregg Popovich, does not have any semblance of a jumper or post game, and has not been reliable at simply keeping himself in fit condition.

Still, he has a chance to restart with the Mavericks, and had a good game against the Hawks in Dallas’s opener, scoring 9 points on 5 shots and picking up 5 rebounds in 21 minutes.  Dallas’s weaknesses in their big man rotation means that they can use a tough rebounder, and that is what Blair will provide.  How he will do against Howard and Asik, and how Dallas will prevent Houston from literally grabbing all the rebounds, will be an important storyline for tonight.

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Total comments: 18
  • rockets best fan says 3 months ago

    I was at the game and I would say the officials were just calling the game tighter than usual for an NBA regular season game. Sometimes they'll do that in the 1st half then loosen up their calls in the 2nd half. But not last night!

    I was sitting 3 rows behind Mark Cuban and it was a joy to watch his despair, especially in the first half when the Rockets were rolling.

    I believe D12 clearly outclassed Mark Cuban by refusing to allow Cuban's outrageous statements affect him and his game.

    I have seen tightly called games................but between the two teams they shot 76.........that's right 76 free throws and had57 personal fouls overall. sure hack-a-howard added a few, but 57 personal fouls? POORLY OFFICATED.

  • rocketrick says 3 months ago

    Been a while since I woke up to watch a regular season game, but considering it was the first Israeli derby and the W by the Rockets it was worth it. Casspi had another good game, really liked the possession where he striped Dirk, ran the break and found Howard for an easy layup.

    Casspi has had better games. He got into early foul trouble which affected his playing time considerably. I thought the Mavs did a good job of chasing him off the 3 point line, too, instead forcing him to drive to the basket and shoot unbalanced shots which he kept missing.

    Still, I do like Casspi's energy and effort coming off the bench and he's not always going to have a stellar game each time out.

  • rocketrick says 3 months ago

    I saw this game and the Mavericks pulled out every trick in the bag. Dallas played this game like it was a playoff game. after Cuban shot his mouth off the day before you could see that he really wanted to stick it to Howard and the Rockets. it wasn't a pretty game and was also one of the most poorly officiated games I have seen in awhile. however not all games can be pretty, especially when playing division games.

    I was at the game and I would say the officials were just calling the game tighter than usual for an NBA regular season game. Sometimes they'll do that in the 1st half then loosen up their calls in the 2nd half. But not last night!

    I was sitting 3 rows behind Mark Cuban and it was a joy to watch his despair, especially in the first half when the Rockets were rolling.

    I believe D12 clearly outclassed Mark Cuban by refusing to allow Cuban's outrageous statements affect him and his game.

  • rocketrick says 3 months ago

    Rick Carlise almost steal the game last night. Ugly game was part of his strategy to disrupt Rockets offense.

    After Rockets started very well with a good lead, Rick threw everything at Rockets including dirty tricks.

    It was more like a coaching battle last night.

    Nah, the game was pretty much in no doubt after Dirk fouled out. Don't give TOO much credit to Carlisle. The only reason the Rockets didn't win by double digits is Jae Crowder couldn't miss a 3 in the last few minutes. He hit at least 4, maybe 5 in the last 3 minutes or so of the game, in garbage time. The Rockets also emptied their bench for the last 3 minutes of the game.

  • rockets best fan says 3 months ago

    I didn't get to watch the game last night because I worked but from everything I gather the Mavericks smell of desperation at all levels of their organization.

    I saw this game and the Mavericks pulled out every trick in the bag. Dallas played this game like it was a playoff game. after Cuban shot his mouth off the day before you could see that he really wanted to stick it to Howard and the Rockets. it wasn't a pretty game and was also one of the most poorly officiated games I have seen in awhile. however not all games can be pretty, especially when playing division games.

  • 2016Champions says 3 months ago

    We should have ran more pick and rolls when Blair was guarding Dwight, we look good but this is th tip of the iceberg

  • feelingsupersonic says 3 months ago

    Rick Carlise almost steal the game last night. Ugly game was part of his strategy to disrupt Rockets offense.

    After Rockets started very well with a good lead, Rick threw everything at Rockets including dirty tricks.

    It was more like a coaching battle last night.

    I didn't get to watch the game last night because I worked but from everything I gather the Mavericks smell of desperation at all levels of their organization.

  • Richards says 3 months ago

    Rick Carlise almost steal the game last night. Ugly game was part of his strategy to disrupt Rockets offense.

    After Rockets started very well with a good lead, Rick threw everything at Rockets including dirty tricks.

    It was more like a coaching battle last night.

  • redfaithful says 3 months ago

    Been a while since I woke up to watch a regular season game, but considering it was the first Israeli derby and the W by the Rockets it was worth it. Casspi had another good game, really liked the possession where he striped Dirk, ran the break and found Howard for an easy layup.

  • Eric Nielsen says 3 months ago

    I agree about the refs calling such a tight game. I hope this lightens up as the year progresses. All the calls for moving screens, traveling, 3 seconds, hand checks and the like make for an old Eastern conference type of slowed down game. Luckily with Howard and Harden it seems like we can win these types of games as well.

  • BrentYen says 3 months ago

    Won by the defense more, especially in the 1st Q, it is really a New Age. Agree that D12 should get more touches, but his post game is really not very effective IMO.

  • MrLobble says 3 months ago

    I would like to see the team reward Dwight with the ball more... In the first half, he absolutely worked his tail off for tough rebounds and loose balls--only to see another teammate immediately jack-up a long range shot. When the big fella is working like that, at least call his number a few times. It seemed like the team completely went away from him until the fourth quarter. By that time, it seemed like he was out of rhythm offensively.

    Secondly, the players on the court have been slow in seeing Howard move without the ball. I hope as the season progresses, everyone will understand the offense a little better, and instinctively see the quick lob, or his 97% shot. Growing up in Orlando, I saw the Magic perfect those lobs. For instance, n the few attempts from tonight, we either saw Francisco throw a late awkward chest pass, or Jeremy Lin's pass that was equivalent to a 6th grader throwing it up--a slow arching lob. It seemed like there were plenty of other opportunities available, too. With the quickness and versatility of our players, Dwight should get 4 of those easy buckets a game.

    All in all, it's amazing how bad we can play, and still win rather easily.

  • feelingsupersonic says 3 months ago This is going to be such a good year I still have to remind myself it's all really happening. Dang James Harden is doing his thing and I am really excited we have a bonafide MVP candidate on the Rockets. Such a great time to be a Rockets fan.
  • Red94 says 3 months ago New post: Houston Rockets 113, Dallas Mavericks 105: Even Ugly Games Have Winners
    By: Rob Dover

    This has to be the most tightly reffed game I've ever seen. At times it felt like you couldn't go more than a couple of possessions without hearing yet another tweet, so it was no surprise that both teams looked out of sync for significant portions of the game. There was foul trouble all over the place, there were two separate bouts of Hack-a-Howard, and even some late game intentional fouls, the upshot of which was that the Rockets went to the line 51 times over the course of the game. Combine that with 25 free throws for the Mavericks and 38 turnovers between the two teams and you have a recipe for a REALLY ugly game of basketball. But even in a game like this someone still gets to win, and in the end the Rockets emerged victorious.

    Some thoughts:

    • This is the sort of game that's tailor-made for James Harden. While the rest of the team plays best when it is in rhythm, Harden thrives off getting to the line and punishing defenders for their hesitance once they're in foul trouble. He was a force tonight en route to 34 points on only 17 shots, pushing on through the avalanche of whistles and stopping the Mavericks from ever getting too close. This was exemplified by an And-1 midway through the final frame that fouled Nowitzki out of the game and pushed a lead that was starting to look a bit ropey back towards a more comfortable level.
    • The whistle denied us from seeing much of the twin towers in this game. It started with Asik having to go to the bench with two fouls within the first minute, and continued from there. Asik picked up fouls quickly whenever he was on the court and ended up fouling out having played only 15 minutes! He tried out a variety of bemused expressions, but sadly none of them garnered much sympathy from the refs.
    • At least they were being even-handed - Dalembert also got in early foul trouble and had to sit for most of the first half. This left DeJuan Blair with the unenviable task of keeping Dwight Howard off the boards, and predictably this section of the game was when the Rockets opened up a sizeable lead that they held for the rest of the game. This may be a dynamic that rears its head a few times over the course of the season - few teams have the big bodies to be able to cope with the Rockets tremendous rebounding edge if their starting centre has to sit. With Howard and Harden's ability to draw fouls, they may be able to engineer situations like this more often in the future.
    • Dallas put on a zone late in the second quarter and were able to go on a run to cut a lead that at one point was at 22 down to 11 at half time and then to 6 mid-way through the third. It seemed very effective and is something the McHale will need to emphasise in practice. When the Rockets played with only three shooters (either with Asik or Brewer playing alongside Howard), the spacing was off - there no driving lanes and the offence stagnated. Even with a four shooter configuration, the team often settled for threes early in the shot clock and spiralled into a funk as most of them missed the mark.
    • No Patrick Beverley meant Aaron Brooks got to see significant minutes off the bench (13 points in 23 minutes). There was some good and some bad, but overall I felt like he has improved a lot since last season. Back when he first came to the team I thought he called his own number too much and the Rockets could never get into a rhythm when he was on the court. But with a training camp with the team under his belt he now looks like he has figured out how to fit into the team concept better, and he now seems to be able to strike a much better balance between looking to drive and looking to pass. He still leaves something to be desired defensively though - somehow the Mavs' offence seemed more potent whenever he was on the floor.
    • With the Mavericks landing in foul trouble with 6 minutes to go into the third quarter, they turned to Hack-a-Howard. He shot 3-8 in the first bout, which will not do much to dissuade other teams from trying it out if need be. But when they tried again in the 4th quarter he sunk both free-throws and they didn't bother him again.
    • I'm really impressed by Garcia's ability to double team. He is really forceful about it and I've noticed it bothering a lot of players when he can pull it off. Tonight he reaped the rewards with a steal and three blocks, and generally made it hard for any of the Mavericks to spend extended time in the post while he was in the game.
    • There was a late scare when Jae Crowder tried on his best Tracy McGrady impression and almost brought the Mavs back into the game in the last few minutes. He hit 4 threes in a row to reduce the lead to 5 with 24 seconds left, but the Rockets made enough free-throws to hold him off.
  • Richards says 3 months ago

    Dirk, Ellis, Carter won't drive and this could be shoot out match. Rockets has much deeper bench and 2nd unit will save the day again.

  • 2016Champions says 3 months ago

    I think it looks really bad on them that they won a Championship then immediately broke up the team. Tyson Chandler's defense was absolutely crucial to that championship, he's a top 10 center in this league and well worth $11m per year.

  • Sir Thursday says 3 months ago

    I agree with Alituro - if you go at Dalembert naively, he can actually be a very effective defender. It is guile and fakes that allow you to deal with him. In the preseason game against the Mavs I didn't think the Rockets did a very good job of taking him out of the game - we'll see if they've learned from it this time around.

    ST

  • Alituro says 3 months ago

    Sammy may not have very sound defense, technically, but he does have a penchant for blocking and bothering shots. This could be bothersome for Dwight in the post, as, unless he's dunking, I'm not sure if he has the high release or creativity in his shots to consistently get around Sammy's long arms. We will destroy them in rebounds though, Blair or no Blair. I like our chances this game if Harden comes back, because I think Dallas' biggest weakness is they allow teams to dictate which shots they can take, too easily, from having no offensive low post threat. However, with Dirk and Monta on the floor even those shots stand a good chance of falling.