Cruisin' at the Toyota Center

The Mavericks are playing without Josh Howard tonight because he has a sore left ankle. Apparently someone fell on it in the Charlotte game on Tuesday and Howard couldn't play. The Rockets, however, are without Yao Ming, who has a sore left foot, so both teams are without a star player and the Rockets' guy happens to be 10 inches taller. The Mavericks have done a good job tonight, They led most of the first quarter, trailing only a couple of times by a point. They led by as many as 12 in the second period and are hanging on wit a seven-point lead with 6:06 left in the third quarter at 59-52. -- Jan Hubbard