In a game that had the majority of the points in tonight's NBA action, the Houston Rockets survived the best effort from the Dallas Mavericks this series. A chaotic, breakneck pace to Game 3 of this series saw 179 combined field goal attempts, 63 combined free throw attempts, 53 total 3-point shots, and just 24 total turnovers. There wasn't a ton of defense played in this contest and it led to a ridiculously entertaining affair between the two teams.
Houston escaped with a two-point victory and now lead the series three games to none with a chance to end it this weekend and get some rest heading into the second round.
Here are the three things to take away from Rockets-Mavericks Game 3:
1. YOU'RE NOT STOPPING JAMES HARDEN WITH RAYMOND FELTON OR MONTA ELLIS
With Chandler Parsons out, Rajon Rondo revolting, and the Dallas Mavericks needing to have some semblance of offense available to them to out-gun the Houston Rockets, it leaves a dearth of options for Rick Carlisle in trying to stop James Harden. They started out the game rotating through guys like Monta Ellis, Raymond Felton, Devin Harris, and Al-Farouq Aminu, but whatever the most advantageous option for Harden was the one he ran a pick play against to get the switch. And from there, Harden just feasted on whatever defense the Mavericks tried to throw at him.
I'm not sure you can really blame the Mavs either. They don't have that lockdown perimeter defender and a healthy Parsons would at least, in theory, make Harden work a lot harder for his points. After going just 9-of-28 from the field in the first two games, Harden broke through with efficient shooting to go with the efficient overall scoring. He set a career-high with 42 points on 15-of-24 shooting and the big dagger at the end of the game that eventually "sealed it."
Harden also dished out nine assists in the game and matched whatever imaginary one-upsmanship we hope there is between him and Stephen Curry as we await the MVP announcement.
2. THE SHORT-HANDED MAVERICKS PUT UP AN INCREDIBLE FIGHT
No Chandler Parsons. No Rajon Rondo (which may be a good thing at this point). Bunch of guys battling through injuries. The Mavericks still put up 128 points and had a chance to send the game into overtime or win it outright on the final possession. I'm not sure you can ask for more from Dallas considering the circumstances. This is the effort and execution we wanted to see in the first two games and it was just never a consistent showing. While their defense has been a laughable execution, they nearly made up for it on the offensive end.
Perhaps the absence of Rondo made it a lot easier for Monta Ellis to shine through as the lead playmaker. He scored 34 points on 15-of-25 to go with nine assists, three steals, and just one turnover. It was one of his best games of the season as he took on the main responsibility of getting this offense going. J.J. Barea also did a great job of playmaking off the bench with 11 points and nine assists in 25 minutes.
We also got the bad taste out of our collective mouth from the previous game when Dirk Nowitzki went just 3-of-14 from the field. He scored 34 points on 10-of-19 from the field and 11-of-11 from the free throw line. He had 16 points in the fourth quarter, nearly willing them to victory to grab back some momentum in the series. Just a brilliant offensive effort by the Mavs in a game that didn't quite work out.
3. THAT WAS A RIDICULOUS DISPLAY OF GREAT OFFENSE/TERRIBLE DEFENSE
There are not a lot of regulation playoff games that end up with a point total like this. According to Basketball-Reference, it was just the 11th playoff game in NBA history that ended in regulation and had both teams scoring at least 128 points. It was the first game to fit those criteria since the Phoenix Suns' 140-133 win over the Golden State Warriors in 1994.
For Dallas, the defensive concerns before the Rondo trade earlier in the season came back to haunt them. You can blame the injuries, but they just couldn't hide guys like Nowitzki, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Charlie Villanueva when they were out there. Tyson Chandler could only keep so much together as he tried to contest everything at the rim while keeping Dwight Howard (26 rebounds, 11 offensive) off the boards.
For Houston, the defensive problems they had last year were right back in the playoffs. They couldn't get big stops when they needed to and that's with a lot of defensive-minded players on the floor. You feel a lot better about their defensive capabilities than last postseason, but Howard has to keep Corey Brewer, Trevor Ariza, and Josh Smith focused to help out and make sure all angles are covered.
Game 4 is Sunday in Dallas. Rockets will be looking to break out the brooms.
SERIES SCHEDULE, RESULTS
Game 1 – Sat April 18
Houston 118, Dallas 108
Game 2 – Tue April 21
Houston 111, Dallas 99
Game 3 – Fri April 24
Houston 130, Dallas, 128 - Houston leads series 3-0
Game 4 – Sun April 26
Houston at Dallas, 9 p.m. (TNT)
Game 5 * Tue April 28
Dallas at Houston
Game 6 * Thu April 30
Houston at Dallas
Game 7 * Sat May 2
Dallas at Houston, TBD (TNT)