Rockets at Mavericks
James Harden is being asked to be a facilitator this season and the
Houston All-Star guard took it to new heights in the Rockets' season
opener. Harden set a career-high with 17 assists during the loss to the
Los Angeles Lakers and will again look to combine passes with shots as
Houston begins a home-and-home series against the host Dallas Mavericks
on Friday.
Harden also had 34 points and eight rebounds in the 120-114 loss to the Lakers that came in Mike D'Antoni's debut as Rockets' coach. "I told them, 'Look, the only thing that's been determined tonight is we're not going to win 82 games,'" D'Antoni said afterward. "We know that. You just throw it away and go to the next one. It's a marathon, a long time, and our legs will come to us." Dallas suffered a 130-121 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers in its opener on Wednesday. Forward Dirk Nowitzki began his 19th season with the Mavericks by contributing 22 points and eight rebounds.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Houston), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (0-1): Defense figures to be an issue most of the season as even a 71-point first half wasn't enough to propel Houston past a team that went 17-65 last season. "We were scoring so easily that we just didn't get stops," Harden told reporters. "It gave them confidence early in the game to where they made shots at the end. But we're not going to get down." Clint Capela has replaced the departed Dwight Howard as the Rockets' center and he fared well with 16 points (on 8-of-11 shooting) and nine rebounds.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (0-1): Small forward Harrison Barnes experienced a solid debut with Dallas by producing 19 points and nine rebounds in the loss to the Pacers. Barnes was lured away from the Golden State Warriors with a four-year, $95 million contract but he had trouble enjoying his good effort due to the defeat. "It was a tough one," Barnes said. "We let a team make 50 percent of their shots and 50 percent of their 3-pointers, yet we still had a chance to win at the end. We just came up short."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The teams split four meetings last season.
2. Houston was just 7-of-29 from 3-point range in the opener and missed 15 of 16 second-half attempts.
3. Dallas G J.J. Barea (elbow) played in the opener and had 22 points in 39 minutes off the bench.