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 Harden and Jones combined on a series of backbreaking plays down the
stretch as the Rockets closed this Western Conference first-round
series with a 103-94 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 at
Toyota Center, their first postseason series victory since 2008-09.
With Houston clinging to a 94-89 lead, Harden buried a 3-pointer
with 2:38 remaining. After adding a steal on the defensive end, he
pushed the ball up court and fed Jones for a dunk that bumped the
advantage to 99-91 with 1:09 left. And then, with 51.7 seconds to
play, Jones added another transition dunk off a length-of-the-court
pass from Harden.
Harden finished with 28 points and eight assists while Jones added
15 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. Rockets center Dwight Howard
posted 18 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and four steals while
reserve forward Josh Smith chipped in 20 points and eight boards as
Houston took a significant step after last year's postseason
disappointment.
"It means a lot," Harden said of the series win. "We have a lot of
guys banged up. Guys have been in and out of the lineup but guys
competed and battled through it, and that's what makes this more
special."
The Rockets will face the winner of the San Antonio Spurs-Los
Angeles Clippers first round series in the Western Conference
semifinals.
Even when the Rockets appeared safe, the Mavericks repeatedly
responded. Jones followed his three-point play at the 5:07 mark with
a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to boost the lead to 94-85.
When Dallas cut the deficit to five points with 3:01 left to play,
it required Harden and Jones to work in concert before Dallas
finally relented.
The closing surge from Jones was particularly noteworthy given his
struggles preceding his three-point play. Jones had just five points
on 2-for-6 shooting before suddenly exploding at the most opportune
time.
"His corner 3 was huge," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said of Jones.
"I tell him to work on the corner 3 all the time, and that left
corner 3 by T.J. was a huge shot. He rose up and shot it. T.J. had a
great stretch in that fourth quarter that kind of brought us home,
which was fantastic."
Guard Monta Ellis paced Dallas with 25 points and seven assists
while forward Dirk Nowitzki added 22 points and 14 rebounds. Forward
Al-Farouq Aminu had 14 points and nine boards before fouling out
late in the fourth as Dallas dropped its fourth consecutive
postseason series.
Some combination of the Rockets' renewed defensive vigor and the
Mavericks awful shooting was the culprit behind Dallas' demise.
Ellis and Nowitzki combined to miss 30 shots while Dallas shot
5-of-26 on 3s.
"I thought we had some good looks at 3(-pointers)," said Nowitzki,
who finished 0-for-6 from behind the arc. "We were shooting 38
percent from the floor. It's going to be tough to win on the
opposing floor."
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The combination of the Mavericks' transition prowess and the
Rockets' ragged ball-handling enabled Dallas to whittle what was a
12-point deficit at 45-33 to three points on Ellis' 3-point play
with 66 seconds remaining in the half. Houston accumulated eight
turnovers in the second quarter and 15 in the first half, yielding
17 Dallas points.
Even with Nowitzki shooting just 2-for-11 by the intermission, the
Mavericks trailed by only six points at the break, a lead bolstered
by a late Harden 3. And despite cleaning things up in the third
quarter -- Houston turned the ball over just once in the period --
the Rockets couldn't shake Dallas.
It helped that Nowitzki began to warm up in the third. Even after
the Rockets built their lead to a game-high 14 points with 5:21
left, Dallas answered with two 3s and trailed by just seven entering
the fourth.
"Our fans and our organization are really proud of how we battled,
and I certainly am," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's
always disappointing when it's over but we did some good things this
year, and we're proud of our guys."
NOTES: Excluding his foul-plagued, 17-minute outing in Game 1,
Rockets C Dwight Howard was averaging 36 minutes in the series.
Given his minutes restriction down the stretch of the regular
season, extending Howard amounts to a confirmation that his right
knee is healthy following surgery in February. ... According to
published reports, Mavericks F Chandler Parsons might require
microfracture surgery on his right knee. Parsons missed the final
six games of the regular season and has been sidelined since playing
37 minutes in Game 1. His cartilage could be repaired with an
arthroscopic procedure, a decision that will be made whenever the
initial scope is performed. ... Mavericks F Richard Jefferson
suffered back spasms during pregame warm-ups and did not play.
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