Rockets 118 Mavericks 108: WCQF Game 1 Recap

The Lead
The Mavs fight back after digging an early hole, but the Rockets' balanced offensive attack proves to be too much.

Box Score

Leaders
Mavs
Points: Nowitzki, 24
Rebounds: Chandler, 18
Assists: Rondo, 5
+-: Barea, +12
Rockets
Points: Harden, 24
Rebounds: Ariza, 11
Assists: Harden, 11
+-: Harden, Terry, +15

Game Ball
Dirk Nowitzki
24 points, 8 rebounds, 10-14 FG

X-Factor
J.J. Barea
12 points, 4 assists, 6-9 FG

Goat Horns
Monta Ellis
5-16 FG, 0 rebounds, 3 TO

Play of the Game
With the shot clock running down, Corey Brewer hits a corner three of a pass from Terrence Jones to put the Rockets up 10 with 7:58 to go.

Stat of the Game
The Mavericks uncharacteristically turned the ball over 17 times helping lead Houston to 29 fast break points.

Of Note

• After missing the last 6 regular season games with knee soreness, Chandler Parsons played 37 minutes, scoring 10 points on 5-15 shooting including 2 dunks.
• Devin Harris sat out the second half after aggravating his injured toe.
• Former Mavs Jason Terry and Corey Brewer combined for 31 points, hitting 7-11 three point attempts.
• Rajon Rondo scored 11 of his 15 points during the second quarter, helping leading the Mavs back from down 13 to briefly take the lead.
• The Rockets had a huge free throw attempt advantedge 45-17, although a number of those attempts came late when the Mavs were intentionally fouling.
• Charlie Villanueva hit two threes in the last minute of the game, in his first playoff action after 10 seasons in the league.

Grades
Nowitzki: A-
Parsons: B-
Chandler: A-
Ellis: C-
Rondo: B-
Aminu: B-
Harris: C+
Stoudemire: C
Barea: A-

Quote of Note
"You've got to give the other guys credit.Obviously, we were paying a lot of attention to James, but they made some plays off the pick-and-rolls. It's just too easy."
Dirk on the Rockets supporting cast

Next Up
The teams will have two days off before they go back at it in Game 2, Tuesday at 8:30.