Mavericks 110, Rockets 98
HOUSTON -- Raymond Felton and Charlie Villanueva led a makeshift starting lineup to a decisive wire-to-wire victory as the Dallas Mavericks topped the Houston Rockets 110-98 on Saturday night at Toyota Center.
Felton (23 points) and Villanueva (19 points) led six Mavericks in double figures as Dallas rested starters Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons and Wesley Matthews following a Friday night victory over the Lakers.
After forward Terrence Jones scored nine of his 23 points in the third quarter and guard James Harden helped the Rockets cut the deficit to 10 in the fourth, Felton carried Dallas (6-4) home with a series of dagger jumpers to preserve the Mavericks' third consecutive victory. Houston (4-6) has dropped three games in succession and fell to 2-4 at home.
Harden missed his first 11 shots en route to his 25-point, 10-assist and seven-rebound performance. And while guard Jason Terry added 19 points off the bench on 6-for-10 shooting, Houston shot under 40 percent from the floor and 30 percent from 3-point range.
Dallas blitzed the Rockets' indifferent perimeter defenders, turning a series of uncontested dribble penetrations into driving layups or open 3-pointers. By the time Villanueva drilled the Mavericks' fourth trey of the opening period, Dallas led 20-11 at the 5:23 mark of the quarter.
After mustering just 20 points in the first quarter, the Rockets' offense collapsed in the second. Houston missed all seven of its 3-point attempts in the first and followed by going cold from the entire floor, stringing together a scoreless stretch of 5:34 as the Mavericks extended their 15-point lead to 50-25 on guard John Jenkins' jumper with 6:15 left in the half.
The Rockets' second period was a comedy of errors, with errant passes and point-blank misses turning the partisan crowd against them. After a smattering of boos greeted the Rockets during one break in the action, the enraged gathering smothered the Rockets with their disapproval as the deficit swelled, with Dallas extending to a 26-point lead when Felton converted a driving layup at the 3:33 mark of the second quarter.
Even with Dallas shooting 0-for-8 from behind the arc in the second quarter the Rockets failed to make up any ground, posting 14 points on just 5-for-24 shooting. The Mavericks led 57-34 at the intermission.
NOTES: The Rockets were down to 10 available players against the Mavericks with G Patrick Beverley (left ankle), rookie F Sam Dekker (back) and F/C Donatas Motiejunas (back) injured while C Dwight Howard sat out the second half of a back-to-back. Houston shipped G/F K.J. McDaniels to the D-League earlier this week. ... Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle noted that his fondness for C Zaza Pachulia predated his acquisition from Milwaukee, a trade that came after Clippers C DeAndre Jordan declined the Mavericks' free-agent contract offer and returned to Los Angeles. In his career, Pachulia averaged 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds against Dallas. ... The Rockets used their fifth different starting lineup in their ninth game Friday night in Denver.