|
 The Mavericks settled for a pair of guards in Ellis and Jose
Calderon after Howard chose the Rockets in free agency during the
summer. Nowitzki wanted Howard as much as anyone else, but has raved
about Ellis all season.
"We're really just playing off of him," said Nowitzki, who also had
a season high in scoring. "He's been aggressive, he's been shooting
the ball well, but what's been great is that he has been making
plays for others. He's making all of us better."
Howard, playing in front of Dallas fans for the first time since his
big decision, made his first 11 shots and scored a season-high 33
points to go with a game-high 11 rebounds after receiving some mild
pregame boos.
The Mavericks, who improved to 6-0 at home, trailed by 18 late in
the third quarter but were down just one in the final minute when
Ellis drove and zipped a pass to Shawn Marion in the corner for the
go-ahead 3-pointer with 47 seconds left.
Houston's James Harden had a chance to tie it with 9 seconds left
but missed the second of two free throws, keeping Dallas' lead at
121-120. Calderon made two free throws after a Houston foul, and
Harden shot an airball on a 3-point try in the final seconds.
The Rockets had 101 points after three quarters — 50 of them in the
paint — but set the tone for the fourth by starting it with four
straight 3-pointers, all misses.
"In the fourth quarter, we went away from what we were doing the
first three quarters," said Howard, who had four alley-oop dunks in
the first half. "We've just got to read how teams are playing us.
It's growing pains. We have a very young team. We've got to realize
what we can do as a team."
Howard, who was 12 of 16 from the field and even made nine of 13
free throws, hit one of two from the line for a 119-114 lead before
Nowitzki hit a jumper, then blocked a shot by Howard on the other
end.
Ellis assisted on a dunk by Marion, and after Chandler Parsons
missed a layup, Ellis found Marion for the go-ahead shot. Ellis
finished with eight assists.
"We stayed together as a team," Ellis said. "We got the defensive
stops when we needed and came down and made shots on the other end." Nowitzki passed Reggie Miller for 15th on the
NBA scoring list, with the 35-year-old in his 16th season going
ahead of Miller on a free throw after a technical foul for
defensive 3 seconds called against Howard. Nowitzki now has
25,298 points. Miller, the second-most prolific 3-point shooter behind Ray
Allen, scored 25,279 points in 18 seasons with Indiana from
1987-2005.
[to top of second column] |
Brooklyn's Kevin Garnett is 14th at 25,340 points after scoring
four in a 95-91 loss to Charlotte on Wednesday night.
"We never could get a handle on them," Rockets coach Kevin
McHale said. "We just couldn't get them stopped the whole game.
Dirk and Ellis got what they wanted."
The Rockets led by 18 late in the third quarter before the
Mavericks rallied in the fourth by shooting 74 percent and
outscoring Houston 36-19.
After Dallas got to 104-101, Houston went back up by nine on
consecutive 3-pointers from Patrick Beverley and Harden, who had
23 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
The lead was still nine when Calderon and Nowitzki hit
3-pointers around a bucket by Harden, setting up the wild
finish.
"It would have been easy to drop our heads and stop playing,
but these guys aren't going to do that," Dallas coach Rick
Carlisle said.
Parsons had 21 points and a game-high 11 assists, but he
attempted just two shots in the second half after scoring 18 and
hitting three of four from 3-point range before halftime.
"It's just annoying and frustrating to know we should have won
the game," Parsons said. "We had a big lead and then we played
completely different in one half than we did in the first half."
Samuel Dalembert, the defensive-minded center Dallas signed
after Howard chose Houston, was powerless to stop him most of
the night before finally getting a block on a layup try that was
just Howard's second miss.
Dalembert led the Mavericks with 10 rebounds and four of their
five blocks.
A night after shooting 72 percent in the first half of a
blowout win over Boston, Houston was at 68 percent at the break
against Dallas and had 36 points in the paint — 16 of those on
dunks — in taking a 68-61 lead.
NOTES: Nowitzki got a technical foul in the first half for
complaining about a foul on a drive by Harden, who missed the
free throw. ... The Rockets shot 75 percent in a 40-point first
quarter. Harden, Parsons, Terrence Jones and Omar Casspi
combined to go 5 of 6 from 3-point range as Houston took a 40-29
lead.
[Associated
Press; SCHUYLER DIXON, AP Sports Writer]
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