Rockets at Mavericks
The hottest team in the NBA is the Houston Rockets, who are riding a seven-game winning streak that pushed them into the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference. The healthy and confident Rockets will try to make it eight straight when they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Houston had no trouble ripping through three of the best teams in the East with wins over the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers by an average of 13 points in the last three games and got some good news when precautionary X-rays on superstar guard James Harden's right wrist came back negative. Harden, who landed on the wrist while breaking a fall and briefly left Friday's 107-91 triumph over the 76ers, is not expected to miss any time as the Rockets set their sights on the Denver Nuggets in the No. 2 slot in the West. The Mavericks are stumbling toward the finish line with losses in four straight and nine of their last 10 contests and never crawled out of an early hole in Friday's 111-106 loss at Orlando. "You get down 19 at any point in an NBA game, the odds of getting back and winning are very difficult, especially on the road," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "You've got to play close or play from the front."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (40-25): Houston's post-All-Star break surge coincided with a healthy return to the lineup from center Clint Capela. "I think it's very obvious," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters. "I think when Chris (Paul), Clint (Capela) and James (Harden) play together and they're all healthy and in rhythm, we're pretty hard to beat. It's taken us this long to get all three of them on the floor and in a good rhythm." Harden led the way with 31 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in Friday's win while Capela added 18 points and nine boards.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (27-38): The remainder of Dallas' season is about the rookies taking steps forward and the rest of the NBA getting a chance to see future Hall of fame forward Dirk Nowitzki for possibly the last time, though he has yet to announce a decision on retirement. Nowitzki scored 15 points in 19 minutes off the bench at Orlando while rookie point guard Jalen Brunson delivered 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and nine assists. "I thought Brunson had one of his best games," Carlisle told reporters. "His paint attacks were productive, he found people, he was aggressive, I thought he defended hard. He's a young player getting better every game."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks SG Tim Hardaway Jr. is 3-of-21 from 3-point range over the last three games.
2. Rockets PF Kenneth Faried (groin) is expected to miss his fifth straight game.
3. Dallas took the first two meetings, but Houston grabbed a 120-104 home win in the most recent matchup on Feb. 11.