It was surely the most entertaining contest of the series thus far, but in a back-and-forth Game 3, theHouston Rocketswere the ones on a hot streak when the buzzer ran out. Now down in the series three games to none, the Dallas Mavericks face elimination in Game 4 on Sunday.
Houston opened up firing on all cylinders, creating a double-digit lead in the opening minutes, but that was all but erased midway through the second quarter. The Mavericks completes a 20-point turnaround, taking their own double-digit lead before halftime.
The second half featured several lead changes up until the final minutes, and the Mavericks had the opportunity to tie or win the game with 6.7 seconds left in the fourthwhen Monta Ellis bricked a long two-pointer just before the buzzer.
Game Grades at a Glance Monta Ellis A- J.J. Barea B Dirk Nowitzki A Tyson Chandler B- Rest of Team B James Harden A Josh Smith B Corey Brewer B- Dwight Howard A Rest of Team B+
Bleacher Report
Dallas Mavericks
Monta Ellis: A-
After struggling through the series' first two games, Monta Ellis opened Game 3 with the game's first bucket, a three-pointer that seemed to be a confidence boost for the Mavericks' best guard. He racked up 12 points in the first quarter alone and finished with a team-high 34 points.
He was responsible in all facets, including playmaking and on the defensive end, coming away withthree steals, namely a slick interception at the end of the third quarter while Dallas was attempting to steal back the lead.He led the team in assists with nine.
During Dallas' last-ditch effort to take the lead in the final minutes, Ellis connected on a few nice buckets, but left a key finger roll short, giving a possession away to the Rockets, leading to a thunderous Dwight Howard dunk. Rick Carlisle put the ball in Ellis' hands with the game on the line during the final possession, but the Mavericks' top scorer couldn't tack on another field goal to his ledger, missing a long two from straight on, as Dallas fell behind three games to none.
J.J. Barea: B
J.J. Barea provided an instant lift for Dallas upon entering the game late in the first, when the team was trailing by double-figures. He sank a few fast-break layups and was largely responsible for Dallas' 20-point swing in the first half.
He found Monta Ellis for a crowd-pleasing transition layup soon after entering and knocked down a three-pointer, while logging a team-best plus-22 on the evening.
He tied for the team lead with nine assistsand turned the ball over twice, misfiring a few times on wild, blind drives to the rim. Overall, the Mavs needed him to step up with Rajon Rondo out indefinitely, and the 30-year-old helped the cause.
Dirk Nowitzki: A
Dirk Nowitzki has posted decent numbers throughout this series, but the 36-year-old, for the most part, has looked very slow, particularly on defense. But Game 3 was a different story.
He missed his first three attempts from beyond the arc, starting off 1-of-5 overall, but improved to 50 percent shooting by halftime and wrapped up with 34 pointstied with Monta Ellis for the team-highto go along with eight rebounds on 10-of-19 shooting.
His gained his touch after that slow start, nailing a number of mid-range jumpers while the Mavs were trailing in the closing minutes. He cut the lead to five with 2:30 left in the game with his fourth three-pointer, then found Monta Ellis on a handoff during the following possession, when Dallas cut it to three.
He grabbed a key rebound to set up a huge Mavs possession with just over a minute remaining, where he drilled a pair of free throws to make the Houston lead a single point. The team couldn't convert on its final possession, where Dirk didn't even touch the ball, and now face elimination via a sweep on Sunday.
Tyson Chandler: B-
Much like his days with the New York Knicks, Tyson Chandler's defensive impact was hardly tangible during Game 3, in a lineup filled with porous defenders. The Mavs allowed 42 points in the first quarter alone, 65 in the first half and 130 in the game. Luckily, the Rockets weren't competing much on that end, either.
Dallas opened up lazy with the ball, turning it over four times in the first few sequences, one of which was Chandler stepping on the baseline before throwing down a vicious slam. Tyson's numbers weren't gaudy, posting eight boards and eight points over 33 minutes, but without him, the Mavs wouldn't have stood a chance on the inside.
On the defensive boards though, Chandler was vastly outworked by Dwight Howard. Howard pulled down 11 boards off his own glass, while Chandler logged just two defensive rebounds.
Rest of Team: B
Al-Faouq Aminu came up with a crucial block in the third quarter, finishing with 15 points, five rebounds, two steals and two swats.Amar'e Stoudemire didn't log many minutesjust 14but was an efficient scorer, going for eight points to go along with four boards.
Raymond Felton got the start at point, but was pretty much invisible, going scoreless on three shots and dishing a single assist. Devin Harris teamed with Barea to handle most of the point duties, scoring 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Houston Rockets
James Harden: A
While the Rockets attempted to march back after the second quarter, James Harden was the sole consistent scoring force. He sank 10 of his first 14 shots, outscoring the Mavericks team through most of the third quarter.
It took him most of the fourth quarter to heat back up, after sitting through the first several minutes of it, but he converted a thrilling and-one to extend Houston's lead back to two possessions in the final minuteit gave him his 40th point, his highest-ever playoff output.
He committed a potentially costly foul on Dirk Nowitzki, resulting in three free throws with 33.8 seconds left. The lead was eventually down to two with just seconds left, but the Mavericks weren't able to capitalize on Harden's error.
He had 42 points in the game to go with a team-high nine assists on 15-of-24 shooting. In the NBA playoffs, the team with a more dominant scoring force typically wins out. Harden and the Rockets proved that tonight.
Josh Smith: B
Josh Smith made a number of huge shots for Houston in the second half, ranging from crowd-silencing dunks to long-range three-pointers. Hefinished with 18 points, second on the team only to Harden.
He was responsible for a nifty outlet pass to Corey Brewer in the fourth to extend the Rockets' tight lead to sevenone of his four assists on the night.
Rick Carlisle attempted to slow the game in the fourth quarter and intentionally foul Smith, a horrid free-throw shooter, but the 49.8 percent foul shooter connected on two of his three attempts.
Corey Brewer: B-
Off the bench, Corey Brewer provided Houston with a spark by drilling a few three-pointers in the second half. He finished with twotriples and 15 points altogether.
He was responsible for a leak-out transition bucket off a good outlet from Josh Smith. At the foul line with seven seconds left and the opportunity to extend the lead to three, he split his pair, giving the Mavs the opportunity to tie or win the game on a final possession. Fortunately for Brewer and the Rockets, Monta Ellis missed the game's final attempt.
Dwight Howard: A-
When Dwight Howard is healthy, the ways he can impact a game are extraordinary. He racked up 14 rebounds before the halftime buzzer sounded, and finished with 26boardshis most since April 2009and 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
He and former AAU teammate Josh Smith were the team's focal points early in the fourth with Harden resting, finding each other for flashy jams and swoops to the hoop.
He rendered Tyson Chandler irrelevant while Houston was on the offensive glass, tearing down 11 boards to Chandler's two on that end.
Rest of Team: B+
A total of six Rockets finished in double-figure scoring, including Trevor Ariza, who had 13 on 5-of-12 shooting. Terrence Jones had 12 points and six boards, and Clint Capela added seven in six minutes.
Pablo Prigioni had just three points, but facilitated well while spacing the floor for Houston's more prominent weapons. He had three assists.
Up Next
After a much more competitive contest than the first two games in the series, it was the same result for Dallas, who now faces a sweep Sunday on its home floor.
Their desire and battle Friday showed they can compete with Houston in spurtsand they may be a more cohesive group without Rajon Rondo. There's always the possibility of a team taking a game at home, but this series certainly seems out of reach for the Mavs now.
Game 4 is on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2442616-houston-rockets-vs-dallas-mavericks-postgame-grades-and-analysis
