Posted: December 23, 2013 -- 10:45 pm CST.
HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- One very bad quarter doomed the Rockets Monday night. The Dallas Mavericks began the third quarter with a 17-3 run to erase the Rockets' 57-50 halftime lead. The Mavs shot 59.1% (13 for 22 field goals) and outscored the Rockets 36-21 in the quarter to help the Mavs defeat the Rockets 111-104 in front of 18,328 fans.
"Really, we just brought more energy," said Mavs' guard, Monta Ellis. "We got defensive stops and got out and ran like we should and we made shots."
"We had a bad start to third quarter," said Kevin McHale after the game. "Too many live ball turnovers. They (Dallas) got up and ran. They got a lot of turnovers. They got a bunch of momentum. We kind of fought back; but, we could never kind of get it back under control after that."
The Rockets (18-11) turned the ball over three times in the opening three minutes of the third quarter; and, the Mavs turned the mistakes into points. The Mavs sank five three-point shots (9 attempts) in the third quarter. Five different Mavs nailed a three-pointer.
"They are a tough team to guard when they are hitting shots like that," Chandler Parsons said. "You can't allow them to go on runs like they did in the third quarter."
The Mavs (16-12) stretched their lead to as many as 15 points (99-84) in the fourth quarter before a three-point bucket by Aaron Brooks capped off a 13-4 run by the Rockets to pull within six (103-97).
Then, Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki did what he's done for years. Nowitzki posted up Francisco Garcia and nailed two straight one-legged fade away jump shots to stall the Rockets' momentum and boost the Mavs' lead to 107-97.
"I think Houston was a little hesitant to leave our shooters out there; and, I just tried to take advantage when they played with a smaller guy," Nowitzki said. "That's what I've been trying to do my whole career is to back them down and hit them with a fade away."
"When he gets going; and, he's making shots like that, he's tough to guard," Parsons said. "So, we tried to go small and start switching things."
The Rockets began doubling-down on Nowitzki and forced other Mavs' players to make shots. Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon each missed long jump shots; and, the Rockets crawled within six (107-101) after Brooks nailed a runner and Chandler Parsons sank two free throws.
With 1:08 on the clock, Brooks was whistled for a foul on Ellis. Ellis sank both foul shots.
Then, Jeremy Lin split two free throws for a 109-102 Rockets' deficit with 1:04 on the clock. The Rockets failed to score for nearly a minute; and, the Mavs iced the game at the foul line.
Nowitzki scored a game-high 31 points (11 for 18 field goals, 8 for 9 free throws). Eighteen of the points came in the second half.
Dwight Howard scored a team-high 29 points for the Rockets. Chandler Parsons scored 21 while Jeremy Lin scored 20 and Aaron Brooks added 18.
As 54.3% (38 for 70) field goal shooting can attest, shooting a high percentage was not a problem for the Rockets Monday night. The Mavs made 11 of 22 three-point shots -- 8 for 15 in the second half. The Rockets also turned the ball over 18 times which led to 21 Mavs' points.
