Mavericks at Rockets
James Harden is in a deep shooting slump and the Houston Rockets star will try to regain his form when the Houston Rockets host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. Harden was just 5-of-18 shooting for 18 points in Wednesday's 125-112 road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and is just 69-of-210 (32.9 percent) from the field over his past 10 appearances.
Harden (thigh) returned to the lineup after a two-game absence and told reporters afterward he wasn't hindered by the injury and "I'll figure it out" when quizzed about his shooting woes. Harden is averaging just 15 points over his last two appearances and failed to reach 20 points in four of his past nine games. Dallas is looking to rebound from a shaky performance as it allowed a season-worst point total against the Phoenix Suns in Tuesday's 133-104 home loss. "We just played a bad game - really bad game," star point guard Luka Doncic said afterward. “That wasn’t us, so we got to forget about this game and move on.”
TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN, FS Southwest, AT&T SportsNet Southwest, TSN1/3/4, RDS
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (29-18): Doncic could miss Friday's game after suffering a sprained right ankle in Thursday's practice and being slated to undergo an MRI exam. Dallas was carved up for 48 third-quarter points by the Suns in a listless performance in which it trailed by as many as 39 points and never once led. "This team has done so many things to get people excited about it and really worked hard to get into a solid position at this point in time," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "A performance like this is just tough. Nights like this do happen, but this was extreme."
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (29-18): Point guard Russell Westbrook recorded 39 points and 10 rebounds against Portland and scored 30 or more points in eight of his past nine appearances and at least 20 in his last 21 outings. Westbrook is averaging 32.6 points in January, including a stellar 38.7 mark over the past three games. Shooting guard Eric Gordon scored just eight points on 2-of-10 shooting two nights after erupting for a career-best 50 points against the Utah Jazz.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Doncic recorded 41 points and 10 assists as the Mavericks notched a 137-123 road victory over the Rockets on Nov. 24.
2. Houston reserve G Austin Rivers scored 17 points versus Portland for his fifth straight double-digit outing.
3. Dallas C Willie Cauley-Stein made his team debut against the Suns and had four points and three rebounds in 12 minutes.