The Dallas Mavericks have been hot of late, and things didn’t slow down Sunday against the Rockets. During this stretch of good basketball, this was the toughest game. A road-trip to Houston. However, Dallas got off to a hot start and while things got tight down the stretch, they were able to re-extend the lead. All of that resulted in a 137-123 win – The Mavericks’ fifth-straight.
The Mavericks Beat the Rockets in Houston
Hardaway Jr. Continues Big-Time Play
As mentioned after Friday’s win over Cleveland, Tim Hardaway Jr. has taken his play to a very high level since being inserted into the starting lineup.
Those two games since moving into the starting lineup were against the Warriors and Cavaliers, however. This was a much tougher test. However, with it being a tougher test, Hardaway Jr. didn’t take a step back at all.
He finished with 31 points on 10/18 shooting, 5/11 from three, with four rebounds and five assists. He also only turned the ball over one time. If Hardaway Jr. is going to continue playing like this, he has become the perfect third piece to Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.
Three-Point Defense
The Mavericks have been middle-of-the-pack thus far in three-point defense, but on Sunday Houston really struggled to get going from deep.
That was spearheaded by James Harden going 2/15 from deep. However, nobody else was much better. As a team, Dallas held Houston to 10/44 from three-point.
Going against Houston, the three-point defense is the key. No team shoots three-pointers at a higher rate than the Rockets.
While Houston still put up 123 points, holding them to 22.7 percent shooting from deep gives you a great chance to win. Especially when you shoot the same amount of threes, but make seven more, as Dallas did Sunday.
Bench Production
Dallas has had one of the more productive benches in the league this season, while Houston has had one of the least-productive.
That was something the Mavericks were able to take full advantage of.
All-in-all, the Mavericks bench scored 28 points, led by 11 from Maxi Kleber, and nine from Delon Wright.
On the other side, the Rockets bench scored only 11 points.
The bench is something that Dallas has been able to take advantage of big-time this season, and it’s something that they should be able to keep taking advantage of.
The Mavericks Down the Rockets: Overall Thoughts
This was the best win of the season for Dallas. In the midst of them playing their best basketball of the season, this was their biggest test in that stretch.
With this being a road game against another top division opponent, it was huge.
Dallas will now head back home for a tough test against the Los Angeles Clippers, before heading out on a three-game road trip against the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and New Orleans Pelicans.
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Top Photo: Bill Baptist/Getty Images
