Rockets  116    Mavericks  108

Houston Rockets (14-11) at Dallas Mavericks (19-7), 8:30 p.m.

Sports Network | December 18, 2009

(Sports Network) - The Houston Rockets continue their torturous holiday season schedule Friday when they make the short-trek up I-45 to take on in-state rival Dallas.

The Rockets, who are 4 1/2 games south of the Mavs in the Southwest Division, finished the first of a series of back-to-back games in losing fashion on Wednesday in Denver when Carmelo Anthony finished with 38 points and nine rebounds, as the Nuggets took a 111-101 victory over Houston at the Pepsi Center.

Aaron Brooks had 23 points and seven assists for the Rockets, who were coming off a home win over Detroit on Tuesday. Trevor Ariza had 18 points in his return from a one-game suspension he got for throwing an elbow at DeMar DeRozan in Sunday's game against Toronto.

"We seemed to be a little bit step behind," said Rockets coach Rick Adelman. "We kept hanging in there until the fourth quarter. We just couldn't get over the hump."

Tracy McGrady played in his second game of the season after being out since February because of microfracture knee surgery, and was 0-for-1 in 7 1/2 minutes.

After tonight's contest Houston will return home for a bout with Oklahoma City on Saturday. The team then toils on consecutive nights twice more during Christmas week, playing the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Dec. 22 and Orlando on the road on Dec. 23, before road games against New Jersey (Dec. 26) and Cleveland (Dec. 27).

The Mavs, who are opening up a four-game homestand tonight, continue to cruise along and earned their fifth straight win in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers with 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in that one as Dallas earned a 100-86 win over the Thunder.

Josh Howard contributed 15 points off the bench, while Shawn Marion and Erick Dampier netted 12 and 10 points, respectively for Dallas, which shot 49.3 percent from the field and made 7-of-13 from three-point territory.

The Mavericks, who also got six points and nine assists from Jason Kidd.

"We know they're a strong-willed team and very much that way for a younger team," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of the Thunder. "They're mature beyond their years competitively. We had to hit some tough shots because they're long and they get into you defensively."

Dallas has dominated the Rockets in recent years, going 23-7 in the last 30 matchups between the two clubs, including two wins this season.