DALLAS -– For the Dallas Mavericks, Monday’s preseason game against the Houston Rockets truly turned into the tale of two halves.
In the first half, the Rockets did whatever they wanted to and toted a 58-57 lead into the halftime dressing room. But in the second half the Mavs got downright dirty and nasty en route to pounding the Rockets, 123-104, in front of 17,245 at American Airlines Center.
“We stepped up and played at a higher level (of) physical capacity,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “Our effort wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half, but in the second half it was there.
“No tricky strategic things or anything like that. Like they say in football, you put your hand to the ground and play, and that’s what we did in the second half.’’
Rookie Jae Crowder scored all 20 of his points in the second half, including 18 of the 32 points the Mavs tallied in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, OJ Mayo shook off the laceration he has in the palm of his right hand to add 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
Mayo tallied 10 of his points when he spearheaded a blistering 20-0 run in the third quarter that gave the Mavs a 77-62 lead. Also, the Mavs were just running at every opportunity they could find as they outscored the Rockets 66-46 in the second half when they also outscored them in fastbreak points, 22-12..
“Our second half was great, our first half was below average because defensively the disposition wasn’t there,’’ Carlisle said. “We had 15 transition points in the first half.
“In the second half we made a stand and did a lot better.’’
-- Dwain Price
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