Even when you stop James Harden, you don't really stop James Harden. The Beard made just four shots from the field in Game 1 of the Houston Rockets' first-round matchup against the Dallas Mavericks. Didn't matter. Houston got a convincing 118-108 win over the Mavericks Saturday night thanks to Harden teeing up shots for Corey Brewer and Jason Terry and making up the difference at the free-throw line.
Harden still managed 24 points thanks to 17 trips to the stripe -- he made 15 -- but his selfless play was the reason the Rockets were able to overpower the Mavericks. Harden had 11 assists and just two turnovers, dishing out of double-teams and finding the open man as he led six Rockets who scored in double figures.
"Everybody's touching the basketball, everybody's getting involved and they can't only just stop one person,'' Harden told reporters after the game. ''They put two on the ball, me I make the pocket pass, I made the easy play and had confidence in my teammates to make the next one.''
On Saturday night, several Rockets took turns showing that just shutting down Harden's scoring won't be enough to knock No. 2-seeded Houston out.
Dwight Howard is too much for the Mavericks
If Howard can stay out of foul trouble, this could be a short series. Howard had 11 points, five rebounds and five blocks, but he also had five fouls that limited his court time to just 17 minutes. When he was on the court, he was unstoppable.
Howard set the tone for the Rockets early. He scored the team's first four points and was a menace on defense.
If Howard hadn't gotten into foul trouble, this game might have been a blowout. The Rockets led by 10 points when Howard had to leave in the second quarter with his third foul. As soon as he left the court, the lane opened up and Dallas chipped away at the lead by driving to the hole almost at will to trail by four at the half -- the Rockets shot 15-of-23 in the final 9:56 of the half with Howard on the bench.
Howard couldn't catch a break from the refs the entire night, struggling to stay on the court in the second half as he was whistled for his fourth and fifth fouls, leaving the game's most important runs to the rest of the Rockets.
Corey Brewer caught fire
The Dallas Mavericks pulled to within six points with less than seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Then Corey Brewer took over. He hit two threes -- both assisted by Harden -- in 70 seconds to give the Rockets a double-digit lead that was too much to overcome. Brewer had good timing, he scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth.
Brewer's takeover wasn't completely out of the blue. In 56 games with the Rockets this season, he's averaged 11.9 points per game. But after shooting just 29 percent from three this year you can't blame his old team for leaving him open to nail 3-of-4 from deep. If he keeps hitting outside shots at that clip, the Rockets' have a scary number of longball poppers.
When on, the Rockets have weapons everywhere
Brewer was the hero on Saturday night, but it could have just as easily been Terrence Jones or Jason Terry or Trevor Ariza (or even Josh Smith). And they all did take turns on Saturday: each scored in double figures and each role player brought something different to the table.
Jones was only 6-of-15 from the field, but he got to the free-throw line 11 times to score 19 points -- and he grabbed nine rebounds. Terry was 4-of-7 from deep on his way to 16 points -- seven of which came in a first-quarter run where the Rockets set the tone for the game and jumped out to a 19-6 lead.
Trevor Ariza did it all. He had 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and was phenomenal on the defensive side of the ball. Ariza had the task of controlling Monta Ellis and Chandler Parsons throughout the night, and bothered both into subpar efforts. Ellis had just 16 points on 5-of-16 shooting and Parsons was even worse, scoring only 10 points.
Abetting Harden isn't a new thing. The Rockets final two losses of the season were against the San Antonio Spurs. They were blown out on April 8 when Harden went 6-of-15 from the field and everyone had an off night, but they hung around and almost stole a win from the Spurs on April 10 despite a 5-of-19 performance from Harden. That night, six Rockets scored in double figures again and Houston had a chance to win the game on the final possession. Even when Harden has an off night, the Rockets have the ability to stick around. This is Harden's team, make no mistake about that, but he's not the only Rocket capable of taking over.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Houston.
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