Mavs Shoot Down Rockets, 137-123, Houston Loses 3rd Straight
Early Bird Gets the Worm. Failure to Launch. Losing Ground.
“Some people are so far behind in a race that they actually believe they are leading”, Uncle Jun’ says at one point during HBO’s legendary series The Sopranos. Three games ago, in this long race that is the NBA season, the Rockets looked like the leading contenders to win the title. Fast forward 3 games, and reality hits: Houston’s just another contender amongst roughly 6 teams. They got bounced on Sunday, 137-123, by a team that’s closing in on joining that group of contenders: the Dallas Mavericks. Luka Doncic had another electric performance, and out-dueled James Harden. Dallas’ sophomore sensation finished with 41 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds. The Beard finished with 32 points, 11 dimes, and 9 boards, but his Rockets were outplayed from the tip. Houston trailed by 16 after the first quarter, got within 5 points in the middle of the fourth, but were never really in the game. The Rockets bench was outscored 28-11, as the Mavericks were the better team on Sunday. And Doncic was the best player on the floor, making another MVP-caliber statement with his dominant performance. Hopefully, it wakes Harden back up. He still had 32, and one rebound shy of a triple-double, but the Beard’s leadership wasn’t as powerful as Doncic’s and the Rockets lost as a result.
It was an earlier start than usual, 2:30 PM local time. Maybe the Rockets just weren’t ready yet. Clint Capela was ready. Capela had a another dominant night, with 21 points and 23 boards. Houston’s big man became the first player to record 7 consecutive 19 rebound games since Dennis “The Worm” Rodman in 1976. It’s too bad no one else on Houston joined Capela’s Worm Party. They say the early bird gets the worm, well the Mavs were the early bird on Sunday. Getting to lose balls first, out-hustling the Rockets, which resulted in a Dallas-friendly whistle all afternoon. Houston was coming off a grueling loss on Friday night in L.A., which makes them now 0-3 during this tough four-game stretch. A test they’ve now failed. This was supposed to be Houston’s launching pad to gain ground in the West. After this tough test, the Rockets have only fallen behind, from 2nd, now down to 5th in the standings.
The test isn’t over. Miami, the team that gave Houston a royal lesson in how to behave, comes to town on Wednesday night. The Heat are 2nd in the East, and will pose another difficult matchup for the Rockets. However, Houston’s home, is the better team, and should win the game. But if the Rockets don’t come out ready to play, and believe they can just show up and will be leading at the end of the game, they will be in for another disappointing loss. This isn’t the year to get a low seed in the postseason. The playoffs are going to be a merciless fight for survival the league’s never seen, specifically in the West. If Houston continues to sleepwalk through the regular season with the mindset that they’re leading the race, when they wake up, they’ll be so far behind that catching up may be out of reach.