Rockets Punish Mavericks, 133-96, for Fifth Straight Win
Winning Time. Glass Eaters. Circling Around.
Houston led by two after the first quarter, but launched past Dallas over the final three frames, as the Rockets beat the Mavericks, 133-96, on Friday night. The win gives Houston their fifth straight, as the squad continues to roll during this homestand. Overall, this is the Rockets 42nd victory of the season, guaranteeing that Houston will own a winning record for the first time in five years. And with the dub, the Rockets take the season-series over the Mavs, 3-1, as these teams won’t meet again until next season (unless something odd happens and they end up meeting in the playoffs, which is very unlikely).
Tari Eason continues to play the best basketball of his young career. Eason scored a career-high 30 points on an extremely efficient 11-for-15 shooting from the floor. Jalen Green scored 29 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, and Alperen Sengun contributed 16 points and 15 boards in the win. Houston dominated the rebounding battle, tuning into complete glass-eaters. The Rockets nearly doubled-up the Mavs on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 67-34, a whopping plus 33 on the boards for Houston. The Rockets also nearly had twice as many assists as the Mavs. Houston had 27 assists to Dallas’ 14, as the Rockets kept the ball circling around and moving, resulting in efficient scoring opportunities.
Granted, this Dallas team was about as decimated due to injuries as any team Houston has played, or will play, this season. Still, it was nice to see the Rockets take care of business, and avoid divulging into bad habits of the past. Little-known Brandon Williams led the Mavs with 25 points off the bench, but Houston controlled this game from start to finish. Before this home strech, every Rockets game seemed to be close, and go down to the wire. However, during this homestand, Houston has comfortably been in control of every matchup, resulting in less-strenuous victories.
Up next, the Rockets will play in this same building as they host the Chicago Bulls for the fifth leg of this six-game homestand tomorrow night. Chicago has won four straight games, so Houston will need to prepared on Saturday night against arguably the toughest opponent they’ll face during this season-high homestand. Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard both remained out for the Mavs win, and won’t play tomorrow night either. The Rockets still have enough firepower to push the winning streak to six games, as they aim to sweep the Bulls on Saturday night, and keep the winning times rolling.