National Basketball Association

SCS Film Room: Houston Rockets Bounce Back vs. Mavs

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:51 p.m. ET

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Houston Rockets got back on track with their first victory of the season. SCS Film Room offers video highlights from the victory in Dallas.

Let’s face it, after Houston Rockets surprising defeat to the Lakers and a poor exhibition in the fourth quarter, Mike D’Antoni’s team needed this.

	1	2	3	4	T
Mavericks	24	26	17	31	98
Rockets	24	27	26	29	106

And there is nothing sweeter than beating Texan rivals the Dallas Mavericks. With particularly great performances from Trevor Ariza, Eric Gordon and yet again James Harden the Rockets got it done on both ends of the court.

Granted even if there’s still a long way to go, some improvements were perceived already. Likewise Mike D’Antoni seems more comfortable with his rotations and benching under performing players.

As was the case with power forward Ryan Anderson. who was less than spectacular in the Rockets season opening loss. Anderson left the game at 4:05 of the third quarter and remained on the bench for the remainder of the game. Additionally his playing time drastically diminished from 34 to 24 minutes.

On the positive side K.J. McDaniels finally grabbed the minutes he’s deserved since last year. With 22 minutes of playing time and registering 9 points and 2 steals McDaniels seems to be building confidence and keeps growing as he embraces the sixth man role while Patrick Beverley is out with injury.

On the Dirk-less Mavs end, Harrison Barnes started living up to his $94M dollar contract with 31 points and 5 rebounds.

SCS Film Room offers 3 lessons learned with accompanying video from the Houston Rockets road victory in Dallas:

Oct 28, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) guards Houston Rockets guard K.J. McDaniels (32) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. The Rockets defeat the Mavericks 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Three Things We Learned

K.J. McDaniels Toughness, Resilience and Skill

Everyone knows the old adage that hard work pays off. In McDaniels case it’s clear that since joining the Rockets he has to earn every single minute of playing time he gets. Based on his growth I’d argue no one works harder than KJ.

So far KJ has been asked add the three point shot to his arsenal, to defend better, as well as to guard bigger and stronger players. What is amazing though is that he is indeed slowly but surely picking up on all those things.

Take a look below at McDaniels’ resilience. After losing the basket on the offense he runs back, steals it and finishes the play on the other end.

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To round it up let’s just enjoy his amazing athleticism and skill with this double pump dunk.

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Oct 28, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Nene Hilario (42) and forward Trevor Ariza (1) jump for the rebound against the Dallas Mavericks during the first half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Nene’s Struggles

Something definitely seems off with Nene. He might be hurt, he might be tired but my countryman is completely off-rhythm.

The Brazilian big guy scored all his 8 points through Mavs hack-a strategy gone wrong. Nene went 8-for-12 in that spread for a nice enough 66.6%.

Nevertheless his defense is not on point, at least on the same level as it was for example in the preseason. He is not leaping enough from the floor to contest shots or even to make his own for that matter.

Likewise Nene’s accepting opponents bumps and is having problems with lateral movement and cutting against his adversaries. Almost all of Nene’s struggles can be summed up through this defensive play against Deron Williams. Take a look below

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Furthermore his offensive game has been mediocre at best and his mid-range jumper looks flat.

Nene needs to improve as he’s an important piece for this Houston Rockets team particularly on defense, going forward.

Oct 28, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) guards Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. The Rockets defeat the Mavericks 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Houston Rockets Team Play

This is probably my favorite play from the game against the Mavericks and it shows exactly the kind of basketball the Rockets must aim to play every single night. Take a look:

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It starts off with a Capela turnover on the offensive end but then the Rockets hustle back quickly showing tremendous defensive transition forcing Wesley Matthews to reset.

After that Deron Williams struggles to find an open man and forces the lob pass which Capela easily deflects. The following offensive play is just a masterpiece. Once again I urge you to take a look:

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The whole team, including Capela transition lightning fast to the offensive end while Harden captains the ball. When Harden drives we’ve got shooters spacing the floor all around, Anderson, Ariza, McDaniels. On the inside as soon as Harden enters the paint area Capela steps out of the way thus leaving room for K.J. McDaniels who cuts inside and gets the layup.

Beautiful, beautiful basketball.

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The Houston Rockets hold their home opener on Sunday also versus this Dallas Mavericks squad to finish their home and home series. Following that game the Rockets will go on the road for the next 5 games.