A tussle in Texas headlines the NBA schedule tonight as
Houston travels north to take on Dallas with revenge on its mind.
When last in American Airlines Center, the Rockets had an opportunity to
clinch the Southwest Division title and the No. 2 seed in the Western
Conference during the final regular season game of the 2008-09 season. A 95-84
setback to the Mavs gave San Antonio the crown and sent Houston sprawling to
the fifth seed, just one notch ahead of Dallas.
Both teams look like playoff contenders again this season and each enter
Tuesday's action at 4-2.
Houston's Carl Landry and Trevor Ariza both hit big shots and ended with 21
points each, as the Rockets logged a 105-94 victory against Oklahoma City in
their last outing on Friday.
Luis Scola scored 19 and secured 10 rebounds, while rookie forward Chase
Budinger continued his impressive start with 16 points in a little over 21 1/2
minutes off the bench.
Aaron Brooks added 11 points and six assists for the Rockets, who have won
four of their last five and gave head coach Rick Adelman his 864th career win,
tying him with Hall-of-Famer Dr. Jack Ramsay for 11th on the all-time wins
list.
"I thought he was good the whole game," Adelman said of Scola after the win.
"I hadn't taken him out the whole second half until 7 1/2 minutes to go, and
then with Chuck (Hayes) and Carl (Landry) doing a good job. If we get
production from Luis, Carl and Chuck, the way they play, we have a chance
to beat a lot of good teams."
The Mavs, meanwhile, are coming off a home court rout of Toronto on Saturday.
Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers with 29 points in that one, as Dallas cruised
past the Raptors, 129-101.
Nowitzki also grabbed nine rebounds and doled out four assists, while Jason
Terry and Shawn Marion scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, for the Mavs,
who have won four of five.
Josh Howard chipped in 16 points in his first game of the season, and James
Singleton logged 10 off the bench for the victors. Howard, who averaged 18.0
points in 2008-09, missed the first five games of this season following
surgery to his ankle and wrist.
"It felt pretty good, you know getting back in the swing of things," Howard
said. "I had a good time out there."
These two teams split a four-game season series a year ago with each club
winning once on the other's home floor. Overall, however, Houston has lost six
of its past eight games in Dallas.
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