The Rockets have taken a 2-0 series lead thanks to an impressive win Tuesday night in Houston.
Dwight Howard and Josh Smith came alive with vintage performances to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 on Tuesday night. The Rockets now hold a 2-0 lead in the first-round series as things head to Dallas for Game 3 later this week.
Not too long ago, Howard was arguably the game's best center and Smith was one of the best forwards. In the second half of Game 2, we got a taste of what that was like as both players delivered performances you would've expected more in 2011, not 2015.
The big star of the night was Howard, who put up 28 points and 12 rebounds while helping the Rockets to a 60-48 advantage on points in the paint. He scored nine of the team's first 13 points to start the fourth quarter after Dallas rallied to take the lead, and helped get the Rockets a key victory when James Harden wasn't at his best.
Smith was also huge for the Rockets, putting up 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds over 26 minutes in a classic stat-stuffing effort. We used to see Smith put up those kinds of versatile numbers constantly when he was a star on the Atlanta Hawks, but he's rarely been as productive since coming off the bench in Houston.
With those two on their games, Houston got away with Harden not being at his best. The superstar shooting guard finished with just 24 points on 5-of-17 shooting, and had nearly as many turnovers (four) as assists (six). It wasn't all bad, as he went 13-of-13 from the free throw line, but this was one of those nights where Harden didn't have much else working.
The Rockets are proving they're much more than just the James Harden Show, though, and that's bad news for the rest of the West.
1. Mavs can't shoot without Parsons
The biggest thing Chandler Parsons brings to the table is outside shooting, and the Mavericks sorely missed it Tuesday night. Without Parsons and Devin Harris, who was also sidelined by an injury, Dallas spent most of the night without the kind of shooters most teams are accustomed to. Dirk Nowitzki and Charlie Villanueva were pretty much the only remaining quality three-point shooters on the roster, and the latter only played six minutes. That left Dirk as the team's only legit shooting threat most of the night, and the Rockets had little trouble taking him out of the game. Dallas ended up shooting just 6-of-22 from three-point range, and if Parsons and/or Harris ends up missing more time, the team could be in trouble.
2. Rajon Rondo is a non-factor
Notice that Rondo's name didn't come up once above. After the trade for Rondo proved to be a bit of a bust during the regular season, the Mavericks had to hope the point guard could step up in the playoffs. Instead, Rondo played just 10 minutes in Game 2 as coach Rick Carlisle preferred to go with J.J. Barea, who ended up getting 34 minutes. Rondo played a lot more in Game 1, recording 15 points and five assists in 27 minutes, but it's clear the Mavericks still haven't figured out how to fit Rondo into their system. At this point, we should probably stop waiting for Rondo to turn things around and accept that it's not going to work out in Dallas.
3. The Rockets can easily score in paint
There's only so much Tyson Chandler can do to keep the Rockets off the scoreboard when he's getting so little help. Nowitzki, Villanueva and Amar'e Stoudemire bring essentially no rim protection ability to table, leaving Chandler as the lone guy capable of stopping opponents from attacking the Mavericks' basket at will. That pretty much happened anyway in Game 2 as Harden, Smith, Howard and Corey Brewer racked up bucket after bucket from close range. Houston finished the game with 60 points in the paint, and another 27 points from the free throw line. If the Rockets can score near the basket this easily, the Mavericks won't last long.
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